The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 
in  the  Poetry 


OF 


P.  Papinius  Statius 


BY 


THOMAS  SHEARER   DUNCAN 


DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED     TO     THE     BOARD     OF     UNIVERSITY     STUDIES     OF 

THE     JOHNS    HOPKINS     UNIVERSITY    IN     CONFORMITY 

WITH    THE    REQUIREMENTS    FOR    THE    DEGREE 

OF    DOCTOR    OF    PHILOSOPHY 


1913 


BALTIMORE 

J.    H.    FURST    COMPANY 
1914 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION      -  5 

CHAPTER  I. — General  Examples  from  the  Thebaid  -         13 

CHAPTER  II. — Some  Passages  cited  by  Legras  -     74 

CHAPTER  III. — Statius'  Similes                              -  -         81 

CHAPTER  IV. — Examples  from  the  Achilleid  -         -     89 

BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                       -  -       101 

VITA 104 


INTKODUCTION 


Much  has  been  written  on  the  relation  of  poetry  to  the  plastic 
arts.  The  text  of  the  discussion  has  been  stated  usually  in 
the  form  in  which  it  appears  in  the  opening  sentence  of  Lea- 
sing's  Laocoon: — '  Painting  is  poetry  in  silence,  poetry  is 
painting  in  speech  '  (Phillimore's  translation).  The  various 
critics  have  been  concerned  with  showing  the  limitations  of  the 
comparison,  with  emphasising  the  fact,  in  one  way  or  another, 
that  the  two  arts  have  different  spheres,  and  the  canons  of  the 
one  cannot  be  strictly  applied  to  the  other. 

The  text  goes  back  to  Simonides  of  Ceos.  So  we  are  told  in- 
cidentally by  Plutarch  (Quaest.  Conviv.  9,  15,  2  f .  748  A.):  ical 
0X009  e<£?7  peraOtja-ew  TO  St/u-aWSetou  cnrb  Trjs  %a)ypa<f>ia<;  ITTI  rrjv 
•  TTOirjcnv  yap  elvai  rrjv  opfflcnv  <rio)7ra)o-av,  /cal  (frOeyyo- 
fflcriv  7rd\iv  rrjv  Trofya-iv.  (Cf.  Plut.  de  aud.  poet.  17f., 
and  see  also  the  introduction  to  the  Laocoon,  p.  xvii).  The 
definition  passed  over  into  Hellenistic  discussion  on  poetry  and 
was  repeated  often.  Note,  for  example,  the  reference  in  the 
Auct.  ad  Herenn.  4,  28,  39,  where  it  is  cited  as  a  familiar 
definition,  being  used  by  the  orator  as  an  example  of  the  figure 
'  commutatio ' ;  '  item,  poema  loquens  pictura,  pictura  taciturn 
poema  debet  esse ' ;  and  Cicero,  Tusc.,  5,  114 ;  '  Traditum  est 
etiam  Homerum  caecum  fuisse:  at  eius  picturam,  non  poesin 
videmus':  with  Horace's  well-known  phrase  (A.  P.  361),  'ut 
pictura  poesis.  (See  Christ,  GriechiscJie  LiteraturgescJiichte, 
if  p.  219.)  A  full  treatment  of  the  discussions  on  the  subject- 
is  given  by  W.  G.  Howard,  i  Publications  of  the  Modern  Lan- 
guage Association  of  America,'  vol.  24  (1909),  pp.  40-123. 

Homer  had  inspired  the  sculptors.  The  story  was  told  that 
when  Phidias  was  asked  by  his  collaborator  Panaenus  in  what 
type  he  would  embody  his  conception  of  Zeus,  he  quoted  the 
famous  lines  from  Homer: 

5 


The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 


77  teal  Kvaverj(nv  €7r'  bfypvai  vevtre 
afjifipdcricu  &apa  %alrai,  eireppcbo-avro 

afiavdroio,  fJLeyav  8'e'XeXilez/ 


Macrobius  (Saturn.  5,  14)  gives  his  version  of  the  story  :  '  Phi- 
dias, cum  lovem  Olympium  fingeret,  interrogatus  de  quo  ex- 
emplo  divinam  imitaretur  effigiem,  respondit  archetypum  lovis 
in  his  se  tribus  Homeri  versibus  invenisse:  nam  de  superciliis 
et  crinibus  totum  se  lovis  vultum  collegisse.'  (Cf.  Val.  Max., 
3,  7.  Strab.,  8,  354).  This  relation  of  sculpture  to  poetry 
is  expressed  thus  by  Spence  (Polymetis,  p.  3)  :  i  When  you  look 
on  the  old  pictures  or  sculptures  you  look  on  the  works  of  men 
who  thought  much  in  the  same  train  with  the  old  poets  '  :  and 
again  (p.  45),  i  the  stories  told  in  marbles  may  sometimes  help 
one  to  find  out  the  meaning  of  a  passage  in  the  ancient  poets: 
and  the  poetical  stories  may  sometimes  explain  the  old  marbles.' 

And  not  only  was  the  parallel  between  poetry  and  sculpture 
drawn  early,  but  a  kinship  between  the  various  arts  was 
affirmed.  This  is  expressed  by  Cicero  in  the  opening  section 
of  the  Pro  Archia  and  taken  by  Spence  as  one  of  the  mottoes 
for  his  Polymetis:  i  omnes  artes,  quae  ad  humanitatem  perti- 
nent, habent  quoddam  commune  vinculum,  et  quasi  cognatione 
quadam  inter  se  continentur.7  Again,  Dry  den,  in  his  notes  on 
the  De  arte  graphica  of  Du  Fresnoy,  apropos  of  this  relation 
says  ;  '  Painting  and  Poesy  are  two  sisters  which  are  so  like 
in  all  things  that  they  mutually  lend  to  each  other  both  their 
name  and  their  office:  one  is  called  dumb  poesy,  and  the  other 
a  speaking  picture  ?  :  and  he  cites  Tertullian  (de  Idolatria,  8  f  . 
110),  translating  as  follows,  i  There  is  no  art  which  is  not 
either  the  father  (sic)  or  the  near  relation  of  another  ?  (nulla 
ars  non  alterius  artis  aut  mater  aut  propinqua  est).  The  pas- 
sage in  Tertullian  appears  in  a  discussion  of  the  idea  that  the 
general  principles  of  one  art  underlie  another,  that  one  art 
engenders  another. 

But  Lessing  raises  a  protest  against  assuming  too  close  a 
connection  between  poetry  and  the  plastic  arts.  He  warns  us 
(Laocoon,  pp.  85,  86)  against  the  assumption  that  poets  bor- 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  1 

row  every  description  from  works  of  art.  On  this  score  he 
finds  great  fault  with  Spence  for  proceeding  on  the  hypothe- 
sis that  the  poet  imitated  the  painter  in  every  case.  i  I  lament/ 
says  he,  '  that  so  useful  a  book  as  the  Poly  metis  otherwise 
would  have  been,  should,  through  the  tasteless  whim  of  sub- 
stituting for  the  natural  fancy  of  the  old  poets  one  derived 
from  another  art,  have  become  so  repulsive  and  so  much  more 
injurious  to  classical  authors  than  the  watery  commentaries  of 
the  most  insipid  etymologist  could  ever  have  been.'  Les- 
sing's  study,  of  course,  was  proceeding  on  the  assumption  that 
the  Laocoon  was  the  work  of  a  sculptor  later  than  Vergil,  and 
that  the  poet  was  the  source  of  inspiration  for  the  artist :  hence 
his  rather  harsh  criticism.  In  the  light  of  subsequent  dis- 
covery his  criticism  does  not  seem  to  rest  on  so  sure  a  founda- 
tion. However,  he  continues  (p.  94),  (  Of  the  mutual  resem- 
blance which  subsists  between  poetry  and  painting,  Spence 
has  the  most  extraordinary  notions.  He  thinks  that  both  arts 
in  the  opinion  of  the  ancients  were  so  closely  bound  together 
that  they  went  hand  in  hand,  and  the  poet  .never  lost  sight 
of  the  painter  nor  the  painter  of  the  poet.7  The  truer  theory, 
in  his  judgment,  was  that  poet  and  sculptor  and  painter  drew 
their  themes  from  a  common  source,  and  presented  them  dif- 
ferently, each  according  to  the  limitations  of  his  art,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  mind  with  which  he  saw  the  material.  '  The 
gods  and  spiritual  beings/  he  says,  '  as  represented  by  the 
artist,  are  not  entirely  the  same  as  those  which  the  poet  makes 
use  of.  To  the  artist  they  are  personified  abstracta  which 
must  always  maintain  the  same  characteristics  if  they  are  to  be 
recognized.  To  the  poet,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  real 
acting  creatures  which,  in  addition  to  their  general  character, 
have  other  qualities  and  affections  which,  as  circumstances 
afford  the  opportunity,  predominate.'  The  difference  is  ex- 
pressed admirably  by  Boissier  (Promenades  Archeologiques: 
'Pompei  et  Rome/  p.  353),  (  Quand  Horace  dit  que  la  poesie 
est  comme  la  peinture  il  n'entend  pas  exprimer  une  verite 
absolue  et  qui  ne  souffre  pas  d'exception.  II  savait  bien,  ce  fin 


8  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

critique,  que,  si  leur  but  est  semblable,  elles  suivent  des  routes 
differentes  pour  y  arriver.  La  peinture,  qui  travaille  directe- 
ment  pour  les  yeux,  est  bien  forcee  de  donner  aux  personnagea 
de  belles  attitudes.  Elle  ne  pent  rien  presenter  an  regard  qui 
le  choque,  car  1'image  ne  s'effac,ant  pas,  1'impression  durerait 
et  deviendrait  plus  facheuse  par  sa  duree  meme.  Le  poete  au 
contraire,  qui  s'addresse  a  P  imagination  et  peint  d'un  trait,  peut 
se  permettre  des  fantaisies  qu'on  ne  pardonnerait  pas  au 
peintre.' 

If,  however,  the  kinship  between  poetry  and  the  plastic  arts 
was  recognized  early,  the  assertion  of  the  difference  between 
them  is  also  of  early  date.  Lessing  might  have  gone  back  to 
Pindar  for  a  text  for  his  protest  against  the  confusion  of  the 
two.  Pindar  opens  the  fifth  Nemean  by  asserting  that  he  is  no 
sculptor,  that  the  product  and  method  of  his  art  is  far  different : 
and  Mezger  (after  Schelling;  see  Mezger,  Pindars  Sieges- 
lieder,  p.  335)  remarks  on  the  appropriateness  of  the  refer- 
ence to  statuary,  inasmuch,  as  at  the  time  when  the  ode  was 
written,  sculpture  flourished  in  Aegina.1 

The  poet  and  the  artist,  then,  must  not  be  judged  by  the 
same  standard.  The  excellence  of  a  poet  is  not  to  be  judged 
by  his  ability  to  draw  pictures,  or  afford  material  for  a  pic- 
ture. On  this  score,  Lessing  runs  counter  to  Count  Caylus 
who  makes  this,  as  it  were,  the  touch-stone  of  the  poet :  '  cette 
reflexion  m'avait  conduit  a  penser  que  le  calcul  des  differens 
tableaux,  qu'offrent  les  poemes,  pouvait  servir  a  comparer  le 
merite  respectif  des  poemes  et  des  poetes.  Le  nombre  et  le 
genre  des  tableaux  que  presentent  ces  grands  ouvrages  aurai- 
ent  ete  une  espece  de  pierre  de  touche  du  merite  de  ces  poemes 
et  du  genie  de  leurs  auteurs.'  Much  harm  is  done,  in  his 
judgment,  by  the  failure  to  observe  the  difference  between  the 
function  of  poetry  and  that  of  plastic  art.  To  this  failure  he 
attributes  the  mania,  in  poetry,  for  descriptive  painting,  and 
in  painting,  for  allegory. 

And  this  mania  for  descriptive  painting  in  poetry  was  char- 

1  This  note  was  suggested  by  Professor  Gildersleeve.     See  Find.  N.  5,  1-3. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  9 

acteristic  of  the  Alexandrian  age.  In  respect  of  this  '  pic- 
torial '  tendency  in  poetry,  Lang  (Introduction  to  the  Transla- 
tion of  Theocritus,  Bion  and  Moschus,  p.  31  ff.)  draws  a  com- 
parison between  the  epic  fragments  of  Theocritus  and  the 
poems  of  Homer.  This  leads  him  to  the  observation  that  the 
art  of  the  Alexandrian  age  was  elaborately  pictorial.  (  Poetry/ 
he  says,  '  seems  to  have  sought  inspiration  from  painting,  while 
painting  inclined  to  genre,  to  luxurious  representations  of  the 
amours  of  the  gods  or  the  adventures  of  heroes,  with  back- 
grounds of  natural  landscape.'  Standards  of  taste  had  changed. 
The  sculptors  of  the  *  severer '  style  had  been  inspired  by 
Homer.  The  author  cited  continues :  '  When  a  new  order  of 
subject  became  fashionable,  and  when  every  rich  Alexandrian 
had  pictures  or  frescoes  on  his  walls,  it  appears  that  the  painters 
took  the  lead,  that  the  initiative  in  art  was  theirs/  Evidence 
of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  so  many  Pompeian  wall- 
paintings  treat  the  subjects  that  are  handled  by  the  Koman 
poets  who  presumably  borrowed  from  the  Alexandrians. 

Yet  in  the  treatment  of  a  given  subject  it  is  difficult  to  say 
which  was  the  imitator,  the  painter  or  the  poet.  Boissier 
(op.  cit.,  p.  345),  discusses  the  problem,  relative  to  the  Pom- 
peian wall-paintings :  '  Les  tins  et  les  autres  (poet  and  painter) 
aiment  a  exprimer  les  memes  sentiments;  ils  cherchent  les 
memes  qualites  et  n'evitent  pas  les  memes  defauts.  Faut-il 
en  conclure  que  les  peintres  se  sont  inspires  des  poetes  et 
qu'ils  ont  pris  dans  leurs  ouvrages  le  sujet  de  leurs  tableaux? 
.  .  .  .  il  est  aise  de  demontrer  qu'ils  sont  demeures  presque 
entierement  etrangers  a  la  litter atiire  de  Rome.  Doit-on 
croire  au  contraire  que  ce  sont  les  poetes  qui  ont  imites  lea 
peintres  ?  Cette  supposition  ne  serait  pas  beaucoup  plus  vrai- 
semblable,  et  dans  tous  les  cas  il  est  inutile  .  .  .  s'ils  se  res- 
semblent,  c'est  qu'ils  puissaient  a  la  meme  source:  peintres  et 
poetes  travaillent  sur  les  memes  modeles,  ils  etaient  les  eleves 
des  maitres  d'Alexandrie,  et  voila  comment  ils  pouvaient  ar- 
river  a  se  rencontre,  meme  sans  se  connaitre.' 

The  tendency,   then,   towards   elaborate   description   among 


10  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Roman  poets  of  the  Augustan  Age  *was  due  to  the  influence  of 
the  Alexandrian  masters.  In  the  time  of  the  Empire  it  became 
still  more  the  fashion.  Statius,  imitating  Vergil  closely  as  he 
did,  and  striving  to  outdo  Ovid,  carried  to  extreme  this  ten- 
dency towards  picture  drawing.  It  is  the  object  of  this  thesis, 
however,  to  show  that  with  him  it  took  a  turn  that  was  quite 
unique. 

Critics  have  given  Statius  credit  for  very  little  originality, 
at  least  in  his  Thebaid.  His  principal  sources  are  given  as 
Homer  (see  Scbol.  ad  Theb.  3.  407:  but  Wilamowitz,  Lese* 
•fruchte,  Hermes  34,  p.  602,  thinks  the  scholium  refers  only 
to  this  passage),  and  Antimachus  (see  Helm,  De  P.  Pap. 
Statii  Thebaide,  p.  6).  Not  even  in  the  treatment  of  indi- 
vidual incidents  is  he  conceded  any  independence.  For  in- 
stance, the  embassy  of  Tydeus  to  Eteocles,  king  of  Thebes, 
treated  in  Theb.  2,  363  if.,  is  compared  with  the  version  of 
the  same  incident  in  Homer  (II.  4,  370  if.,  id.  5,  300  if.,  id. 
10,  285  if.).  R.  Werner  (Zur  Sage  vom  Zuge  der  Sieben 
gegen  Theben — *  Comment.  Philol.  fiir  O.  Ribbeck.'  Leipzig, 
1888,  p.  514)  notes  the  difference  in  the  message  that  Tydeus 
delivers  and  in  the  events  that  followed.  Statius'  version  is 
found  in  Diod.  4,  65.  The  source,  argues  Werner,  is  Anti- 
machus, who  followed  another  earlier  version  of  the  story. 
Other  scholars  have  attempted  to  show  his  indebtedness  to 
Euripides.  E.  Morner  (De  P.  Pap.  Statii  Thebaide  quaes- 
tiones  criticae.,  grammaticae.,  metricae,  Konigsberg,  1890,  i.  n.) 
claims  that  the  poet  owes  something  to  the  prologue  of  the 
Phoenissae  (op.  cit.  p.  2),  but  most  to  Antimachus  (id.  p.  6). 

Eissf eldt  ( Ueber  Quellen  und  Vorbilder  des  P.  Pap.  Statius. 
Progr.  Helmstedt,  1900)  relates  the  Thebaid  of  Statius  to  the 
Cyclic  Epic  Thebais.  The  same  writer,  in  '  Philologus,'  63,  p. 
421  if.,  attributes  the  poet's  lack  of  originality  to  the  fact  that 
under  his  father  he  studied  the  ancient  poets  almost  exclus- 
ively from  the  point  of  view  of  style.  (Cf.,  too,  Plessis,  La 
poesie  latine,  p.  598.)  He  waxes  sarcastic  in  commenting  on 
the  closing  lines  of  the  Thebaid,  'durabisne  procul  etc.' 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  11 

'Zwolf  Jahre,'  lie  exclaims,  'hat  er  daran  gearbeitet!  Wir 
wollen  ihm  das  gern  glauben.  Es  muss  eine  gewaltige  Arbeit 
gewesen  sein,  alle  die  epischen  Dichtungen  der  Vorganger  dar- 
aufhin  durchzuarbeiten,  was  er  wohl  fiir  seine  Zwecke  ver- 
werten  konnte,  und  wie  mlihsam  mag  er  gewesen  sein,  alles  in 
den  Rahmen  der  Thebanischen  Sage  hinein  zuzwangen,  dass 
ein  leidlich  abgerundetes  Ganze  herauskam!  Und  wie  schwer 
mag  ihm  manches  Mai  die  Wahl  geworden  sein,  welcher  von 
den  ihm  zu  Gebote  stehenden  Perlen  er  den  Vorzug  geben 
sollte.  Es  ist  daher  sehr  begreinich,  dass  alles  das  maiiche 
schlaflose  Nacht  gekostet  hat.'  The  writer  speaks  as  if  he  had 
worked  long  on  the  poet  and  had  his  temper  soured.  In  his 
judgment,  Statius  was  a  mere  slavish  imitator,  who  did  not 
even  trouble  himself  at  times  to  vary  his  originals;  and  he 
quotes  the  lines  from  Sophocles7  Antigone  (365  if.)  merely  to 
observe  that  '  in  the  Thebaid  the  poet  inclines  to  the  bad  for 
the  most  part.' 

Admitting,  as  we  must,  that  in  invention  Statius  showed 
no  originality — that  the  subject  of  his  Epic  was  worn  thread- 
bare, and  that  for  the  most  part  he  chose  the  materials  that 
lay  ready  to  his  hand — one  may  still  attempt  to  show  that  in 
method  of  treatment  he  added  something  that  was  quite  his 
own,  something  that  after  him  became  the  fashion.  And,  as 
noted  above,  it  is  in  the  direction  of  the  tendency  towards  pic- 
ture drawing  that  we  must  look  for  what  we  consider  peculiar  to 
him.  Like  his  predecessors  he  draws  elaborate  pictures,  which 
in  themselves  suggest  the  influence  of  the  Alexandrians.  But 
as  if  this  were  not  enough — as  if  a  description,  with  the  object 
in  mind,  were  not  sufficient — he  turns  from  the  particular 
thing  he  is  describing  and  places  before  the  reader  a  conven- 
tional picture,  which  he  seems  to  consider  the  embodiment  of 
the  object  before  him:  so  that  the  reader  turns  from  the  poet's 
description,  not  with  the  object  before  his  eyes,  but  the  picture 
or  statue  which  the  poet  has  suggested.  We  are  not  concerned 
here  with  those  passages  where,  evidently,  the  poet  was  de- 
scribing a  well-known  work  of  art  (see  Gaymann,  Kunst- 


12  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

archdologiscJie  Studien.  Wiirzburg,  1898),  but  (with  those 
which  can  be  traced  to  no  definite  painting  or  statue,  but 
inevitably  suggest  a  work  of  art. 

Somewhat  the  same  phenomenon  Lessing  observes  in  Lucian. 
He  says :  '  Lucian  can  give  us  no  other  idea  of  the  beauty  of 
Panthea,  than  by  referring  us  to  the  most  beautiful  female 
statues  of  the  ancient  artists.  But  what  is  this  but  to  confess 
that  language  for  this  purpose  is  powerless;  that  poetry  stam- 
mers and  eloquence  is  dumb  unless  art  in  some  measure  assist 
them  as  an  interpreter?7  (See  Lucian,  Imagines,  Vol.  n, 
p.  461  Eeitz.)  He  cites,  further,  as  a  parallel  Scott's  descrip- 
tion of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake  at  her  first  appearance  (Canto  I. 
IT,  18).  Of  Scott's  description  he  says  that  it  happily  blends 
the  ideas  of  the  poet  and  sculptor. 

With  Statius,  however,  this  tendency  becomes  a  habit.  Art 
intrudes  even  where  the  poet's  description  would  be  more  for- 
cible if  it  were  kept  out.  This  raises  a  question  which  the 
poet's  biographers  have  not  dealt  with — whether  his  interest  in 
the  plastic  arts  was  deeper  than  we  have  heretofore  supposed, 
or  whether  the  phenomenon  was  merely  the  result  of  his  mania 
for  exaggeration.  For  we  are  not  prepared  to  attribute  the 
same  tendency  to  the  other  poets  of  his  age:  an  examination  of 
the  Argonautica  shows  that  while  Valerius  Flaccus  draws  pic- 
tures as  did  Apollonius  and  Vergil  he  does  not  to  any  great 
extent  exhibit  this  tendency  which  we  are  ascribing  to  Statius. 
One  or  two  illustrations  of  this  tendency,  however,  may  be 
discovered. 

In  the  Silvae  the  poet  does  not  show  this  tendency.  The 
nature  of  the  poems,  however,  in  a  measure  precludes  it. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Siatius  13 

CHAPTEE  I. 

GENEBAL  EXAMPLES  FROM  THE  THEBAID. 

Theb.  1.  121. 

The  stylistic  tendency  that  we  are  assigning  to  Statins  is  il- 
lustrated by  Theb.  1.  121: 


..-«t  <^w^-trv,    psv"'i^ 

- 


ipsa  suum  genetrix  cnrvo  delphine  vagantem 
abripuit  frenis  gremioque  Palsemona  pressit. 


As  it  happens,  the  passage  has  a  long  tradition  behind  it,  and 
an  opportunity  is  thus  given  to  compare  the  original  treatment 
of  the  motif  with  that  of  Statius. 

Commentators  trace  it  back  through  Apollonius  of  Rhodes  to 
Euripides,  though  in  this  thesis  the  attempt  is  made  to  show 
that  Homer  supplies  the  original  motif.  In  a  chorus  of  Euri- 
pides' Troades  (542  ff.)  the  poet  makes  the  leaders  of  the  chor- 
us describe  the  events  of  the  evening  preceding  the  fall  of  Troy, 
when  the  wooden  horse  had  been  brought  within  the  wall  to 
propitiate,  as  they  thought,  the  virgin  Athena  ; 

1.  542.  eV  Se  TTOVQ)  real 


1.  555.  (froivia  S'ava 

/So  a  rcaTefye  ITe/o  — 
eSpas  •  /Bpecfrrj  Se  <f)t,\i  — 

a  Trepl  TrerrXot"?  e/3a\\e  pa  — 

rpl 


The  poet  here  is  concerned  with  creating  an  atmosphere  for 
the  description  of  the  horrors  that  attended  the  capture  of  the 
city.  Black  night  had  fallen  on  a  scene  of  brilliant  merry-mak- 
ing which  Euripides  describes  with  sure  touch,  so  that  one  can 


14  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

feel  the  atmosphere  of  light-heartedness.  The  only  suggestion 
of  anything  sinister  is  in  the  descent  of  night,  which  covers  all 
with  its  black  wings — and  even  this  is  at  first  taken  as  a  means 
to  heighten  the  splendor  and  festivities  of  the  occasion.  But 
just  when  the  situation  is  created — a  situation  of  abandoned 
mirth  and  happiness — a  fierce  shriek  interrupts  the  merry- 
making. With  one  stroke  Euripides  brings  on  the  whole  dread- 
ful calamity.  The  horror  of  the  cry  strikes  the  hearts  that  were 
but  now  so  light  and  spells  doom  for  all. 

The  shout  was  heard  in  all  Pergamus'  homes.  Euripides 
is  here  not  concerned  mainly  with  the  extent  of  the  sound,  but 
with  its  horror — with  the  suggestion  of  calamity  it  conveyed. 
Those  who  heard  it — even  the  children — had  an  instinctive 
foreboding  that  death  was  near.  This  is  what  the  poet  wishes 
to  impress  on  his  hearers  in  order  to  prepare  them  for  the  tale 
of  butchery  that  was  to  follow.  And  in  as  much  as  in  tragedy 
emotional  setting  is  all-important,  to  accomplish  the  /cdQaparis 
of  the  soul  of  the  hearer,  it  is  the  pathos  of  the  situation  in  this 
instance  that  appeals  most  to  Euripides,  and  it  is  this  he  is 
most  anxious  to  present.  Here,  then,  was  real  ground  for  fear, 
in  the  fate  of  the  house  of  Priam,  in  that  of  the  little  boy  As- 
tyanax  particularly,  and  the  poet  prepares  the  hearer  for  the 
imminent  calamity  by  portraying  the  consternation  of  the  mo- 
ments before  the  sad  tragedy  began.  Nothing  could  be  more 
natural  than  Euripides'  treatment  of  this  theme — his  picture  of 
the  frightened  children  fleeing  to  their  mothers,  and  clinging  to 
their  skirts,  doomed,  no  doubt,  to  be  snatched  away  at  once  to  a 
violent  death.  A  moment  later  Andromache  enters  riding  in  a 
mule-car,  and  bearing  in  her  arms  the  body  of  her  murdered 
son:  and  a  dialogue  follows  between  her  and  Hekabe,  in  which 
the  tale  of  their  sorrows  is  told,  the  death  of  Hector  and  Asty- 
anax,  and  the  fall  of  their  wretched  city. 

But  it  seems  to  me  that  we  can  trace  further  back  the  sug- 
gestion of  this  motif  at  least.  Forbiger  (on  Aen.  7.  518,  et 
trepidae  matres  pressere  ad  pectora  natos)  says  that  undoubt- 
edly the  lines  in  the  Epit.  Iliad. : 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  15 

parvumque  ad  pectora  natum 
Astyanacta  tenet  .  .  .   (vid.  infra) 

go  back  to  Virgil  :  yet  one  naturally  turns  to  the  passage  in  the 
Iliad  which  deals  with  the  same  incident.  Here,  one  may  ven- 
ture to  say,  we  find  the  original  of  this  natural  touch,  though  it 
may  not  be  easy  to  see  that  the  whole  conception  originates  with 
Homer.  An  examination  of  the  passage  (II.  6.  4665.)  will 
bring  out  the  points  of  resemblance: 


eiTTcbv  ov  TratSo?  ope^aro  ( 
S'  6  Trat?  7T/305  KoKirov  ev^wvoio  Ti6r)vr)<s 

<f>i\ov 

re  l$e  \d(f*ov  i 
Seivdv  cbr'  aKpordrrj^  xopvOos  vevovra  vorj(ra<j. 

What  could  be  more  beautiful  and  pathetic  than  this  scene? 
Yet  a  discussion  of  the  picture  is  scarcely  in  place  here  :  we  are 
concerned  more  with  its  possible  relation  to  the  other  passages 
under  consideration.  True,  in  this  incident  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  child's  fear  is  not  the  same  as  in  the  Euripides 
passage  and  the  others  that  are  to  be  cited.  The  little  Astyanax 
naturally  cries  aloud  with  fright  at  the  strange  gear  upon  his 
father's  head,  and  nothing  could  be  more  simple  or  more  true  to 
life  than  the  instinctive  clinging  of  the  child  to  his  mother. 
But  with  this  observation  Homer's  picture  is  not  .exhausted: 
we  feel  the  weight  of  the  doom  that  is  hanging  over  Priam's 
house.  The  whole  atmosphere  is  charged  with  fright  and  ter- 
ror. Outside  the  city  walls  the  fight  rages,  and  the  shouts  and 
clang  of  arms  are  carried  up  to  the  people.  This  forms  the 
background  for  the  picture  of  natural  affection  drawn  in  Hom- 
er's lines  :  and  this  scene,  we  venture  to  say,  was  present  to  the 
mind  of  Euripides.  As  in  the  Euripides  passage  the  pathos  of 
the  situation  is  heightened  by  the  fate  of  Astyanax. 

Coming  down  to  Theocritus  we  see  the  theme  suggested  again 
in  the  account  of  the  infant  Heracles  strangling  the  two  ser- 
pents sent  upon  him  by  Hera.  The  story  is  told  in  Idyll.  24, 
11-60: 


16  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 


1.  11.       a/^o?  8e  (TTpefarai,  U>€<TOVV/CTLOV  e?  8vaiv  aptcros 
/car'  avrov,  oB'  anfyaivei  peyav  &/JLOV 


1.  60.       'AX/c/if/ixz  fj,ev  eVetra  trorl  crfyerepov  Bd\e  KO\TTOV 


In  the  Theocritus  passage  the  situation  is  different,  though  it 
contains  quite  similar  elements.  The  story  of  Heracles  and  the 
serpents  is  a  familiar  one.  Pliny  (RT.  H.  35,  63)  tells  of  a 
painting  on  this  subject  by  Zeuxis  —  magnificus  est  et  luppiter 
eius  in  throno  adstantihus  deis  et  Hercules  infans  dracones 
strangulans  Alcmena  matre  cor  am  parente  et  Amphitryone. 
Representations  are  seen  also  on  the  coins  (1)  of  Thebes:  (2) 
of  the  alliance  of  Samos,  Ephesus,  Rhodes,  Cnidus,  etc.  ;  (3)  of 
Croton  and  the  South  Italian  League  (Vid.  Daremberg  et  Sag- 
lio  s.  v.  Heracles).  Another  representation,  perhaps  the  best 
known,  is  a  fresco  of  Pompeii.  On  the  right  is  Zeus;  behind 
him  is  Alcmene,  terror-stricken  ;  on  the  left  stands  a  slave  ;  Her- 
acles is  a  well-grown  child  and  is  represented  not  in  his  cradle 
but  as  kneeling  on  one  knee  in  the  centre  and  strangling  the 
serpent  (J.  H.  S.  16.  p.  143  if.).  Pausanias  (1.  24.  2)  speaks 
of  a  statue  representing  this  subject  on  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 
Eor  further  illustrations  see  Roscher  n.  p.  2222. 

The  version  of  the  story  given  in  Theocritus  is  the  same  as 
that  in  Pindar  ISTem.  1.35-61,  .except  that  Pindar  has  nothing  to 
do  with  this  motif  of  the  mother's  alarm.  The  cause  of  Alc- 
mene's  alarm  and  the  infant  Iphicles'  fright,  is  not  a  cry  — 
though  Iphicles  had  roused  her  from  her  bed  with  his  crying. 
As  seen  in  the  representations  on  the  coins  and  in  the  fresco 
her  fear  is  not  for  Heracles,  who  seems  to  be  performing  his 
task  with  the  utmost  capacity  and  composure,  but  for  Iphicles. 
Perhaps  it  was  due  as  much  to  the  general  confusion  of  the 
household  as  to  the  danger  the  young  Heracles  seemed  to  be  in, 
and  Iphicles  threatened  with.  At  any  rate,  we  have  here  the 
elements  of  the  tradition  —  the  cry  and  confusion  (though  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  it  cannot  be  the  same  as  in  the  Euripides 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  17 

passage),  and  the  mother  in  fear  clasping  her  terror-stricken 
child  to  her  breast. 

The  feature  of  special  interest,  however,  in  both  the  Iliad 
and  the  Theocritus  passage,  is  not  the  cause  of  alarm  but  the 
simple  and  natural  treatment  of  this  motif  of  motherly  affection 
and  apprehension.  Both  passages  serve  the  purpose  of  contrast- 
ing the  treatment  given  it  by  authors  who  were  not  so  complete- 
ly under  the  influence  of  rhetoric  and  art  with  that  of  later  and 
more  conventional  writers. 

Going  back  we  next  trace  this  passage  down  from  Euripides 
to  Apollonius  of  Ehodes  (Arg.  4,  123  ff.).  The  Argonaut 
heroes  had  landed  Jason  and  Medea  at  a  grassy  spot  near  which 
Phrixus  had  built  an  altar  to  Zeus  when  he  came  with  the  ram 
of  the  golden  fleece.  Straightway  the  pair  set  out  for  the  oak- 
tree  on  which  the  golden  fleece  hung  : 


1.  123.       Tft)  Se  81*  arpaTTiroLO  fJLeO*  lepov  aXcro?  I/COVTO 
aTreipea-irjv  &f?;/4ez/6>,  y  CTTL  Kw 


1.  127.       aura/3  d  avriicpv  TrepifJLrj/cea  reivero  Seiprjv 

poiStov  o(f>LS  6<f)0a\iJioi(riv 
ei  &e  7re\a>piov     .... 


1.  136.       Bef/JMTl  8'  e%eypovTO  Xe^auSe?,  apcfrl  8e  iraidiv 
,  oi  re  cr<f>iv  VTT'  ayKakiSecrariv  tavov, 
/3d\ov 


Here  the  natural  touch  is  as  beautiful  as  in  Euripides,  but 
the  setting  is  not  dramatic. 

Immediately  after  the  description  of  the  hissing  of  the  ser- 
pent, Apollonius  passes  to  a  description  of  the  relaxing  of  the 
huge  serpent's  coils.  '  As  when  above  smouldering  wood  count- 
less sooty  eddies  of  smoke  whirl  and,  one  upon  another,  rise 
ever  upward  from  below,  hovering  aloft  in  wreathes:  so  then 
that  monster  writhed  his  endless  coils  covered  with  dry  scales/ 
Then  the  poet  tells  how  Medea  called  on  Sleep  to  aid  her  in  the 

2 


18  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

subduing  of  the  dragon  and  the  protection  of  Jason:  how  she 
called  on  Hecate  to  give  fair  issue  to  their  venture;  and  how 
the  monster  at  once  relaxed  his  huge  coils  under  the  goddess' 
spell. 

Apollonius  has  given  to  the  motif  a  different  setting  from 
that  in  which  it  appears  in  Euripides.  With  him  it  is  more  or 
less  artificial.  In  contrast  with  the  situation  in  the  Troades, 
here  there  is  no  occasion  for  fear  on  the  part  of  the  mothers :  no 
harm  can  come  to  them  or  their  new-born  infants.  The  poet  in 
this  situation  is  not  preparing  the  hearer,  as  was  Euripides,  for 
the  recital  of  disaster  that  followed :  as  we  have  seen,  he  goes  on 
to  describe  the  actions  of  the  dragon  in  more  minute  details. 
He  is  concerned  with  description  chiefly.  Into  his  description 
three  motifs  enter:  (1)  to  represent  the  far-reaching  power  of 
the  sound;  (2)  to  show  the  danger  (to  Jason  and  Medea)  in  the 
situation;  (3)  to  give  an  idea  of  the  awful  nature  of  the  sound. 
The  first  leads  him  to  geographical  description,  of  which  Apol- 
lonius and  the  Alexandrians  generally  were  fond:  the  last  two 
give  occasion  to  describe  the  natural  fear  of  the  mother  for  her 
babe,  and  her  instinctive  clutching  of  it  to  her  breast. 

Apollonius  sets  .the  form  in  which  the  theme  was  imitated  by 
later  authors,  Virgil,  Valerius  Flaccus  and  Statius.  With  all 
of  them  the  first  feature  is  made  as  important  as  the  others. 
Apollonius  calculates  the  distance  that  the  sound  radiates,  mak- 
ing Colchis  his  centre.  The  sound  waves  extend  to  the  R.  Ti- 
tanus  on  the  north ;  R.  Lykus  on  the  south  and  west ;  the  Phasis 
to  the  south ;  to  Araxes  on  the  south  and  east ;  to  the  Caucasian 
Sea  at  the  far  east.  Here  the  poet  bounds  the  sound  area  by 
streams  or  bodies  of  water  in  every  instance. 

As  in  Euripides,  the  time  is  still  night :  rather  the  time  when 
night  begins  to  pass  into  day  (1.  109  ff.). 

Jason's  companions  have  landed  him  with  Medea  to  secure 
the  fleece  and  to  be  off  before  Aeetes  discovers  with  approaching 
day  that  the  theft  has  taken  place.  The  time  adds  to  the  terror 
of  the  situation:  the  mother,  awakened  from  sleep  by  the  wild 
cry,  is  terrified  all  the  more  and  instinctively  clasps  her  child. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  19 

While  the  deep  pathos  of  the  situation  in  the  Euripides  passage 
is  absent,  still  there  is  the  same  simple  beauty  in  the  Apollonius 
passage.  The  poet  here  creates  an  artificial  setting  for  the 
motif,  but  the  plain  homely  touch  is  preserved. 

Before  passing  to  Virgil's  treatment  of  this  bit  of  traditional 
material,  it  will  be  instructive  to  turn  to  Kallimachus  and  see 
how  he  has  handled  the  motif.  In  the  Hymn  to  Delos  (1. 
133  ff.)  is  a  passage  that  deals  with  one  side  of  it.  Leto,  pur- 
sued by  Hera,  is  prohibited  from  taking  refuge  in  any  land,  be- 
cause she  had  presumed  to  think  that  she  would  bear  a  son  to 
Zeus,  who  would  be  dearer  to  him  than  Ares  (Hym.  Del.  55- 
58).  The  River  Peneus,  disregarding  the  anger  of  the  goddess, 
offers  Leto  shelter  and  rouses  the  anger  of  Ares  : 


a\\a  ol 

Ilayyaiov  irpoOe\vpva  Kapijara  fjbe\\ev  aeipas 
€fJL/3a\eeiv  Sivrjcriv,  cnrofcpirfyai  Se  peeQpa," 
ir^rode  8'  ecrfJLapdyrjcre  /ecu  aaTriSa  Tityev  a/cco/crj 
Sovparos  • 

Here  the  area  and  the  frightful  nature  of  the  sound  is  given, 
but  not  the  natural  touch.  All  Ares'  outcry  was  for  nothing. 
Peneus  went  on  his  course  undisturbed.  The  effect  of  the 
sound  is  seen  here  only  in  Leto's  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  Pen- 
eus, the  friend  who  had  been  compassionate  to  her  in  her  dis- 
tress when  all  the  world  was  refusing  her  an  asylum.  (Of. 
ISTonn.  Dion.  2,  38ff.). 

Most  commentators  maintain  that  the  passage  in  Virgil 
(Aen.  7.  511  ff.)  is  modelled  on  the  passage  cited  from  Apol- 
lonius. The  Fury,  Allecto,  comes  up  from  the  Stygian  regions 
to  inspire  the  Rutuli  against  the  Trojans,  and  at  the  opportune 
moment,  when  the  Rutuli  have  gathered  at  Silvia's  call  for  help 
on  the  wounding  of  her  pet  stag,  utters  a  frightful  cry.  On  this 
passage  Wagner  in  his  note  says  (comparing  it  with  the  pas- 
sage in  Apollonius)  ;  non  tarn  ornate  sed  meliore  iudicio:  nam 
a  Furia  innatam  buccinam  tarn  horrendum  sonitum  edidisse, 


20  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

probabilius  est  dictum  quam  draconis  sibilum  tarn  longe  esse 
auditum : 

1.  511.    at  saeva  e  speculis  tempus  dea  nacta  nocendi 
ardua  tecta  petit  stabuli,  et  de  cnlmine  summo 
pastorale  canit  signum,  cornuque  recurvo 
Tartarean!  intendit  vocem 

1.  518.     et  trepidse  matres  pressere  ad  pectora  natos. 

But  it  seems  rather  that  the  Virgil  passage  is  a  combination 
of  the  Apollonius  passage,  cited  above,  and  another  (Argon. 
4,  640  ff.).  The  Argonauts  are  on  the  point  of  being  carried 
out  to  the  Ocean  by  an  off-shoot  of  the  Rhodanus  (vid.  11.  638- 
9)  when  Hera,  to  warn  them,  '  sped  forth  from  heaven  and 
shouted  from  the  Hercynian  rock:  and  one  and  all  did  quake 
with  fear  at  her  shout,  for  terribly  rumbled  the  wide  firma- 
ment.' 

Like  Apollonius  Virgil  had  two  objects  in  his  description — 
to  represent  the  frightful  nature  of  the  sound,  and  its  extent. 
Virgil's  geography,  however,  is  more  local  than  that  of  Apol- 
lonius, though,  as  the  note  (cited  above)  observes,  the  cry  of 
the  Fury  was  more  likely  to  be  far-reaching  than  the  hiss  of  the 
dragon.  But,  generally  speaking,  Virgil's  love  of  geographical 
description  springs  from  a  different  impulse  than  that  of  Apol- 
lonius, who  employs  it  for  the  sake  of  the  opportunity  it  affords 
for  the  display  of  learning. 

In  the  Virgil  passage  the  sound  spreads  from  some  high  place 
of  outlook  near  the  gates  of  Eome  (vid.  11.  477,  511.)  on  which 
the  Fury  had  taken  her  stand.  It  extends  to  '  lacus  Trivise  ' — 
a  ]ake  near  the  precinct  of  Diana  at  Aricia,  southeast  of  Rome: 
northward  to  the  R.  Nar  in  Umbria:  to  the  east  to  the  Fontes 
Velini,  in  the  Sabine  territory;  the  westerly  direction  would 
carry  Virgil  to  lands  beyond  Italy,  and  with  these  the  poet  was 
not  concerned.  He  is  concerned  primarily  with  the  horror  of 
the  sound,  '  whereat  the  grove  all  shuddered  instantly,  and  for- 
est-depths re-echoed,  and  trembling  mothers  pressed  to  their 
breasts  their  frightened  children.' 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  21 

The  situation  is  to  be  compared  with  that  in  Euripides  rath- 
er than  that  in  Apollonius.  As  a  preparation  for  the  battle  that 
is  to  follow  the  description  is  all  the  more  striking,  while,  as  we 
noticed  in  the  Apollonius  episode,  nothing  follows  that  would 
show  there  had  been  any  cause  for  fear.  That  is  to  say,  the 
beauty  of  the  natural  touch  in  Virgil  is  heightened  by  the  pic- 
ture of  strife  and  bloodshed  that  follows. 

This  passage  was  taken  as  a  stock  example  of  description  in 
the  later  rhetoricians.  It  was  cited  by  Quintilian  (Inst.  Or  at. 
8,  3,  TO)  and  lulius  Victor  (Ehet.  Lat.  Min.  p.  437  n),  a  com- 
mentary on  Cicero  Verr.  5,  86.  Commenting  on  bald  statement 
as  compared  with  detailed  and  vivid  description,  in  which  all 
the  various  phases  of  a  disaster  are  put  before  the  mind's  eye, 
and  on  the  essential  features  of  a  good  description,  Quintilian 
says:  consequemur  autem,  ut  manifesta  sint,  si  fuerint  veri 
similia:  et  licebit  etiam  falso  effingere  quidquid  fieri  solet. 
continget  eadem  claritas  etiam  ex  accidentibus :  .... 

trepidse  matres  pressere  ad  pectora  natos. 

And  finally  he  says:  naturam  intueamur:  hanc  sequamur. 
That  is,  if  comparisons  are  used,  they  must  be  such  as  give  no 
violent  shock  to  one's  conception  of  what  comes  within  the  range 
of  experience.  To  the  same  effect  writes  lulius  Victor,  quoting 
at  length  from  Quintilian  and  employing  the  same  examples. 

But  if  Virgil  improved  on  Apollonius  in  keeping  his  descrip- 
tion within  the  bounds  of  greatest  probability,  one  can  hardly 
say  that  he  had  himself  to  thank  for  the  improvement.  The 
motif  of  the  cry  of  the  Fury  he  got  from  Homer  (II.  2.  3-11). 
So  the  note  in  the  Heyne- Wagner  edition.  But  as  we  have  seen, 
perhaps,  here,  too,  the  source  is  Apollonius. 

Virgil  had  many  imitators  in  this  motif.  Among  others, 
Emmensius  cites  (Virg.  Elzv.  ed.)  a  passage  in  the  first  book  of 
Lucan:  c  et  pavidse  natos  pressere  ad  pectora  matris.'  This, 
however,  is  so  much  like  the  Virgil  line  that  it  arouses  suspic- 
ion, and,  in  fact,  no  such  line  can  be  found  in  Lucan.  It  is, 
however,  found  in  the  poem  of  Hosidius  Geta  ( ?),  Anth.  Lat. 
i.  178,  384  (Burm.). 


22  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

This  poem  in  the  Anth.  Lat.  is  a  tragedy — Medea.  In  the 
passage  cited  the  messenger  enters  and  describes  to  Creon  what 
he  has  seen  Medea  doing:  she  has  kindled  the  altars  at  night 
and  is  burning  on  them  cedar,  squill,  hellebore  and  sulphur,  all 
the  while  calling  upon  Hecate.  Then  she  waits,  while  fire 
flashes  from  her  eyes.  Soon  great  clouds  obscure  the  sky,  the 
earth  quakes,  lightning  flashes:  then  are  heard  strange  voices 
and  loud  wailing,  the  sound  of  tramping  feet  and  snapping 
scourges.  Amid  all  this  and  the  wild  clamor  of  dogs,  in  the 
black  darkness  of  night  Hecate  approaches — and  at  her  ap- 
proach "  backward  flows  the  stream  in  terror,  and  fearful  moth- 
ers press  their  children  to  their  hearts." 

The  poem  of  Hosidius  Geta  is  but  an  adaptation  of  Virgil's 
Aeneid  to  a  different  theme  (Vid.  Teuffel  370.  5  Eng.  Trans.). 
Teuffel  quotes  Tertull.  de  praescript.  haeret.  39 — vides  hodie 
ex  Virgilio  fabulam  in  totum  aliam  componi,  materia  secun- 
dum  versus,  versibus  secundum  materiam  concinnatis,  denique 
Hosidius  Geta  Medeam  Tragoediam  ex  Virgilio  plenissime 
exsuxit.  It  cannot  be  called  an  original  work  in  any  sense: 
and  its  value  in  this  connection  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  repro- 
duces closely  the  tradition  of  the  Virgil  passage.  The  cry  of 
the  Fury,  and  all  the  weird  noises  that  accompany  her  approach 
are  calculated  to  inspire  terror.  The  episode  fits  into  the  Medea 
story  admirably ;  and  contrasted  with  Medea's  unnatural  action 
in  the  slaying  of  her  children,  the  pathos  of  the  natural  touch 
(et  pavidse  matres  pressere  ad  pectora  natos)  is  greatly  height- 
ened. It  will  be  noted  that  the  only  change  from  the  Virgilian 
line  is  the  substitution  of  f  pavidce '  for  '  trepidce/ 

As  observed  above,  the  commentators  refer  the  passage  in 
the  Epit.  Iliad.  (509)  to  the  passage  in  Virgil  cited  (but  see 
the  discussion  in  this  paper  on  Iliad  6.  466  ff.)  The  incident 
in  the  Epit.  Iliad,  is  the  meeting  of  Andromache  and  Hector : 

"  Meanwhile  Ares  with  mighty  strength  slays  Akamas :  and 
Menelaus  takes  captive  great  Adrastus." 

Then  follows  the  battle  between  the  Danai  and  the  Trojan 
warriors.  Hector,  seeing  that  the  gods  have  turned  their  faces 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  23 

from  the  Trojans,  bids  the  women  go  pray  and  sacrifice.  Mean- 
time Glaucus  and  Diomedes  engage  in  noisy  combat,  and Jiien 
exchange  gifts  and  swear  eternal  friendship. 

"And  Hector's  faithful  wife  Andromache  seeks  converse 
with  him,  and  holds  the  little  Astyanax  to  her  breast." 

As  in  the  Iliad  the  touch  of  natural  affection  is  beautiful. 
The  noise  of  battle  in  the  distance  makes  the  mother  apprehen- 
sive of  the  fate  that  may  befall  her  child,  and  with  a  mother's 
instinct  she  grasps  him  and  presses  him  to  her  breast.  In  the 
Iliad,  of  which  this  is  merely  a  summary,  the  cause  of  fear  is 
the  same,  but  Andromache's  conversation  with  Hector  is  drawn 
out  at  greater  length.  The  direct  occasion  of  her  grief  is  the 
sad  picture  that  Hector  draws  of  what  may  be  her  lot  when  the 
Achaeans  capture  the  city  (and  this  seems  a  certainty,  since  the 
gods  are  fighting  for  the  Greeks)  when  she  is  dragged  away  to 
slavery,  to  weave  at  the  bidding  of  some  strange  woman.  But 
as  a  background  for  the  picture,  in  the  far  distance  the  battle 
rages,  and  the  noise  of  clashing  shields  is  borne  on  the  wind  to 
her  ears. 

One  naturally  looks  for  an  imitation  of  Apollonius  in  Valer- 
ius Flaccus,  and  at  the  same  time  has  to  reckon  on  the  influence 
of  Virgil.  The  episode  of  the  dragon  comes  up  in  Valerius 
(Bk.  7.)  The  treatment  is  different  from  that  of  Apollonius, 
for  reasons  that  we  shall  see : 

1.  516.     accipe,  perdomitis  quae  deinde  pericula  tauris 
et  quis  in  Aeolio  maneat  te  vellere  custos : 


'  quis  f ragor  hie  ?  qusenam  tantse,  die  virgo,  ruinse  ? 
exclamat  stricto  Aesonides  stans  frigidus  ense. 
ilia  trahit  ridens  tandemque  ait  angue  represso. 

Valerius  has  preserved  few  traces  of  the  motif  as  it  is  seen 
in  Apollonius.  There  is  still  the  hissing  of  the  dragon,  but  it 
almost  seems  as  if  Valerius  were  not  taking  that  seriously,  even 
though  he  makes  Medea  warn  Jason  of  the  dangers  that  await 
him  by  the  oak  tree  on  which  the  fleece  hangs.  That  he  is 


24  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

thinking  of  the  Apollonius  passage  can  be  seen  from  lines  529, 
530,  when  Jason  takes  fright  at  the  awful  sound  of  the  hissing, 
But  he  turns  aside  and  represents  Medea  as  almost  indulging 
in  mirth  at  Jason's  expense. 

The  chief  reason,  however,  for  the  difference  in  treatment  is 
the  fact  that  the  poet  had  employed  this  motif  in  the  episode  of 
the  Lemnian  women  (Arg.  2.  196-203).  Here  he  was  influ- 
enced by  Virgil  (Aen.  7.  518).  From  Virgil  he  borrowed  the 
cry  of  the  Fury  to  replace  the  hissing  of  the  dragon : 

1.  200.     inde  novam  pavidas  vocem  furibunda  per  auras 
congeminat,  qua  pulsus  Athos  et  pontus  et  ingens 
Thraca  pavet,  pariterque  toris  exhorruit  omnis 
mater  et  adstricto  riguerunt  ubere  nati. 

The  motive  for  the  introduction  of  the  description  is  the  same 
here  as  in  the  Euripides  passage — to  prepare  the  way  for  the  de- 
scription of  the  horrors  that  were  to  follow.  On  that  night  the 
Lemniades  unnaturally  murdered  their  newly  returned  hus- 
bands in  their  beds,  all  with  the  exception  of  Hypsipyle.  But 
there  is  a  second  motive.  As  in  Apollonius,  the  poet  is  intent 
on  describing  not  only  the  horror  but  the  extent  of  the  sound 
also.  This  gives  him  the  opportunity  for  geographical  descrip- 
tion. The  centre  from  which  the  sound  radiates  is  Lemnos: 
it  extends  to  the  Bistonian  mere  on  the  north  and  west:  to  the 
Acroceraunian  headland  away  to  the  far  west :  to  Colchis  at  the 
extreme  east:  southward  its  waves  would  spread  in  a  direct 
course  down  the  Aegean  Sea  to  Crete,  though  nothing  is  said  of 
this.  Without  discussing  the  reasons  for  the  choice  of  these 
particular  places,  beyond  the  fact  that  they  represent  great  dis- 
tance in  each  direction,  one  might  suggest  that  the  reference  to 
the  Colchian  deep  may  be  intentional,  owing  to  the  part  that 
the  Argonauts,  whose  destination  was  Colchis,  played  in  the 
story  of  the  Lemnian  women. 

Valerius  does  not  make  so  much  of  geographical  description 
as  does  Apollonius.  He  has  a  real  tragedy  to  prepare  for ;.  Apol- 
lonius has  not,  but  has  merely  a  sound  to  describe  in  its  two  as- 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  25 

pects  —  its  immensity  and  extent,  and  its  wild  horror.  In  Va- 
lerius the  setting  lends  greater  pathos.  But  in  instituting  a 
comparison  one  must  bear  in  mind  what  the  latter  poet  owed  to 
Virgil.  What  is  important  to  observe,  however,  is  that  with 
Valerius  Flaccus  the  beauty  of  the  natural  touch  is  still  pre- 
served : 

pariterque  toris  exhorruit  omnis 
mater  et  adstricto  riguerunt  ubere  nati, 

and  that  it  is  adapted  from  Apollonius  rather  than  Vergil,  as 
can  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  last  two  lines  of  the  Apol- 
lonius passage  : 

e£ey/0oi>To  Xe^ttft'Se?,  a/JL^l  Se  Traiaiv 
,  OL  re  <T$LV  VTT'  aytcaXiSeao-Lv  'lavov. 


A  late  imitation  of  the  motif  is  seen  in  Ariosto  (Orlando  Fur. 
27,  stanza  100,  101).  King  Agramante  listens  to  Sobrino's  ad- 
vice to  refrain  from  strife  with  Marfisa,  who  had  offered  him 
an  affront  by  dragging  away  his  squire  and  challenging  any 
knight  to  rescue  him  by  deed  of  arms  : 

Stanza  101. 

Tremo  Parigi  e  turbidossi  Senna 
All'  alta  voce,  a  quello  orribil  grido. 
Rimbombo  il  suon  fin  alia  selva  Ardenna 
Si,  che  lasciar  tutte  le  fiere  il  nido. 
Udiron  PAlpi  e  il  monte  di  Gebenna 
Di  Blaia  e  d'Arli  e  di  Roano  il  lido  : 
Rodano  e  Sonna  udi,  Garonna  e  il  Reno: 
Si  strinsero  le  madri  i  figli  al  seno: 

Here  are  all  the  elements  of  the  traditional  passage,  following 
the  Homeric  tradition  in  making  the  sound  the  cry  of  Discord 
(see  II.  11,  3-11).  One  detail  is  added:  the  beasts  themselves 
in  the  depths  of  the  Ardenne  forest  flee  with  fright  at  the  sound. 
There  is  more  geographical  detail  than  in  the  traditional  pas- 
sage ;  but  the  homely  touch  of  natural  affection  is  the  same  : 


26  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Si  strinsero  le  madri  i  figli  al  seno. 

A  consideration  of  the  passage  in  Statins  (Theb.  1,  114  ff.) 
in  which  this  motif  occurs,  and  an  examination  of  his  method 
of  treatment,  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  peculiar  character  of 
his  genius.  Here  the  sound  is  the  hissing  of  the  snakes  in  the 
hair  of  the  Fury,  Tisiphone,  as  she  comes  up  from  the  lower 
world  to  enflame  the  hearts  of  the  brothers  Eteocles  and  Poly- 
nices.  It  looks  like  a  combination  of  the  Apollonius  and  Vergil 
passages,  though  no  doubt  Vergil  was  followed  mainly.  There 
is  the  same  element  of  improbability  as  was  noted  by  the  com- 
mentator on  the  Apollonius  passage,  namely,  that  the  hissing 
of  the  snakes  in  the  locks  of  the  Fury  could  be  heard  at  such 
great  distance  or  inspire  such  great  terror.  But  this  element 
of  the  supernatural  appealed  to  Statius  as  it  did  to  the 
Alexandrians : 

1.  114.     ut  stetit  abrupta  qua  plurimus  arce  Cithaeron 
occurrit  caelo,  fera  sibila  crine  virenti 
congeminat,  signum  terris.  .  .  . 

1.  121.     ipsa  suum  genetrix  curvo  delphine  vagantem 
abripuit  frenis  gremioque  Palaemona  pressit. 

The  setting  is  much  the  same  as  in  Euripides  and  Vergil. 
The  horrible  sound,  with  the  fear  that  it  inspires,  is  a  prelim- 
inary to  the  unnatural  struggle  of  the  two  brothers.  The  poet's 
purpose  again  is  to  create  an  atmosphere  in  the  reader's  mind 
for  the  recital  of  the  horrors  of  war  that  is  to  follow.  To  give 
an  adequate  impression  of  the  sound  he  describes  it  from  two 
points  of  view — its  extent  and  its  horror. 

The  Fury  stands  on  Cithaeron,  on  the  southern  border  of 
Boeotia,  and  the  sound  waves  radiate  from  that  point.  The 
poet  first  makes  the  general  statement  that  all  the  shore  of  the 
Achaean  sea  and  the  kingdoms  of  Pelops  re-echo  it.  On  the 
north  and  west,  it  strikes  Parnassus,  in  Phocis,  and  Oeta  in 
Aetolia;  on  the  south,  it  strikes  the  Isthmus  and  the  Eurotas 
in  Laconia. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  27 

But  at  present  we  are  concerned  principally  with  his  treat- 
ment of  the  simple  natural  touch  that  we  observed  in  the  pass- 
ages already  treated.     With  him  Vergil's  line — '  et  trepicbe  - 
matres  pressere  ad  pectora  natos  ' — becomes : 

ipsa  suuni  genetrix  curvo  delphine  vagantem 
abripuit  frenis  gremioque  Palaemona  pressit. 

The  mother  and  child  still  survive,  but  they  have  become 
mythological  persons.  '  Leucothoe  and  Palaemon  are  the 
mother  and  child  par  excellence  of  antiquity/  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  many  references  to  them  in  Latin  literature.1 

But  there  is  no  longer  free  scope  for  the  imagination :  the  god- 
dess and  her  child  are  there  as  if  painted  in  a  picture.  Real 
beauty  there  is  indeed  in  the  picture — the  little  Palaemon  is 
seen  riding  about  on  the  back  of  his  dolphin  guiding  him  by  the 
reins.  As  he  is  playing  about  in  this  fashion  the  hissing  of 
the  snakes  on  the  Fury's  head  is  heard,  and  the  mother,  still 
human  enough  for  a  mother's  love,  grasps  her  child  up  and 
presses  him  to  her  heart.  The  picture  is  charming  still,  but  its 
former  simple  beauty  is  vanished,  and  in  its  place  we  have  two 
pictures,  such  as  might  have  come  from  a  coin  or  painting  or 
statue.  Such  representations  we  have:  a  Corinthian  coin 
showing  Palaemon  on  his  dolphin,  another  showing  Leucothoe 
with  the  young  Palaemon  in  her  arms  ready  to  cast  him  into 
the  sea,  and  the  dolphin  there  waiting  to  receive  him.  (vid. 
Daremberg  et  Saglio,  s.  v.  '  Melicertes.') 

Evidently  this  passage  was  a  subject  of  discussion  among 
later  rhetoricians,  as  we  have  seen  the  Vergil  passage  was  (Aen. 
7.  518).  Lactantius  discusses  it  at  some  length,  seemingly,  as 
Dr.  3L  F.  Smith  suggests,  in  reply  to  adverse  criticism.  What 
this  criticism  may  have  been,  or  to  what  extent  the  passage  was 
discussed,  we  have  been  unable  to  trace.  On  the  words 

1Verg.  Aen.  5,  823;  Georg.  1,  437;  Ov.  M.  4,  542;  Cic.  N.  D.  3,  15,  59; 
Claudian.  10,  154-156  (Epithal.  Honor.).  Cf.  Apul.  Met.  4,  31;  Stat.  Theb. 
9,  330. 


28  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

'  ipsa  suum  genetrix,  etc.'  Lactantius  says — Leucothoen  dicit: 
et  bene  ipsain  eligit  hoc  loco  ponere  quia  iam  malum  didicerat 
furiarum,  et  iocunde  dictum  pressit.  et  a  Thebanis  numin- 
ibus  non  recessit  quae,  veluti  praescia,  magis  metuunt  patriae 
quam  furiarum  sonitus  perhorrescunt ;  et  mire  dicendo 
'  pressit '  affectionem  maternam  explicuit. 

Lactantius  is  arguing  for  the  appropriateness  of  the  picture. 
Three  points  he  finds  in  its  favour — first,  that  Leucothoe  had 
already  experienced  the  horrors  that  the  Fury  could  bring 
about :  again,  that  Leucothoe  and  Palaemon  were  the  protecting 
deities  of  Thebes,  and  as  such  were  more  fearful  for  the  land 
of  Thebes  than  for  themselves;  and  again,  that  the  picture 
admirably  represents  motherly  love.  In  Statius'  picture,  how- 
ever, Palaemon  is  but  a  child  still,  driving  his  dolphin  with 
reins  of  roses  (Claudian,  1.  c.)  and  Leucothoe  is  the  typical 
mother.  We  must  see  then  that  in  Statius  we  have  an  entirely 
different  version  of  the  traditional  motif:  all  the  elements  are 
still  present,  but  present  in  a  form  greatly  influenced  by 
plastic  art. 

Theb.  1.  197.     The  '  Concilium  Deorum.' 

In  Statius'  handling  of  a  theme  that  is  common  in  epic 
poetry — namely,  the  '  concilium  deorum ' — can  be  seen  his 
stylistic  tendency.  By  adopting  such  a  theme,  following  the 
traditional  treatment  and  expanding  it,  a  poet  has  an  oppor- 
tunity for  the  grouping  of  figures  and  for  picture  drawing. 
This  opportunity  Statius  availed  himself  of  to  the  full.  The 
value  of  this  example,  again,  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  has  behind 
it  a  long  epic  tradition,  and  a  comparison  can  easily  be  drawn 
between  the  treatment  of  it  in  earlier  poets  and  that  given  by 
our  poet,  and  at  the  same  time  an  opportunity  is  given  of 
showing  how  Statius  set  the  fashion,  and  how,  after  him,  the 
treatment  of  such  themes  became  more  and  more  conventional. 

From  Homer  down  the  '  concilium  deorum '  was  very  com- 
mon epic  material.  In  Latin  literature  it  appears  early. 
Conington  (on  Aen.  10,  1  ff.)  notes  "  a  line  of  Naevius  (Osann 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  29 

conj.  '  Laevius ')  i  Panditur  interea  domus  altitonantis  Olympi.' 
This  is  quoted  by  Apuleius  (de  orthographia  15)."  Baehrens, 
however  (Poet.  Lat.  Min.  vol.  6)  cites  this  passage  neither  with- 
the  fragments  of  ISTaevius  nor  with  Laevius.  Hence  any  con- 
jecture as  to  the  treatment  of  the  motif  in  this  early  poet  (who- 
ever he  was)  is  useless. 

It  appears  next  in  Ennius.     Fragments  53,  54,  55,  Ann.  i 
(Miill.)  refer  to  a  '  concilium  deorum.'     Frag.  53, 

considunt  tectis  bipatentibus, 

which  Servius  (on  Aen.  10,  5)  says  Vergil  gets  from  Ennius, 
refers  to  a  description  of  the  building  in  which  the  '  concilium ' 
was  held.  Frag.  54, 

unus  erit,  quern  tu  tolles  in  caerula  caeli 
templa, 

is  Jupiter's  promise  to  Mars,  as  we  see  from  Ovid  (Fast.  2, 
363).  In  another  place  (Met.  14,  812)  Ovid  tells  us  that  this 
promise  was  made  to  Mars  at  a  council  of  the  gods.  Frag.  55, 

O  genitor  noster  Saturnie,  maxime  divum, 

is  likely  Mars'  address  to  Jupiter. 

Lucilius  also  employed  this  material  (vid.  Lucilii  Carmina, 
ed.  Marx) :  Frag.  1, 

aetheris  et  terrae  genitabile  quaerere  tempus, 

Frag.  2, 

irritata  canes  quam  homo  quam  planius  dicit, 

Frag.  4, 

consilium  summis  hominum  de  rebus  habebant. 

Between  the  last  two  fragments  a  part  is  lost  in  which  a  council 
of  the  gods  is  called ;  and  they  begin  to  deliberate  on  the  death 
of  one  Lupus,  a  wicked  judge,  and  to  declare  their  opinions. 

Frag.  9, 

O  curas  hominum !     0  quantum  est  in  rebus  inane ! 


30  The  Influence  of  Art '  on  Description 

may  refer  to  the  reflections  of  one  of  the  gods.  So  too  Frag. 
18, 

haec  ubi  dicta,  dedit  pausam  ore  loquendi, 

refers  to  the  close  of  Jupiter's  speech,  and  Frag.  19, 

ttt 

nemo  sit  nostrum  quin  aut  pater  optimus  divum 
aut  Neptunus  pater,  Liber  Saturnus  pater,  Mars 
lanus,  Quirinus  pater  siet  ac  dicatur  ad  unum. 

This  last  fragment  is  cited  in  Lactantius  (Inst.  4,  3,  12),  where 
he  says,  i  quod  Lucilius  in  deorum  concilio  inridet.' 

Dealing  with  fragments  only,  we  cannot  form  any  sure  con- 
clusion as  to  Lucilius'  treatment.  It  is  likely,  however,  that 
he  followed  the  Homeric  tradition  and  described  it  in  the 
simple  manner  characteristic  of  the  Homeric  epic  and  the  early 
Roman  epic. 

Seneca  scoffs  at  the  idea  of  gods  being  called  to  council  with 
Jupiter — '  advocates  ad  suum  concilium  a  love  deos  quasi  in 
ipso  parum  consilii  sit  imperitum  est '  (N.  Q.  2,  42,  1)  but  he 
himself  in  the  Apocolocyntosis  (De  Morte  Claudii  ss.  7,  8,  9  n°.) 
introduces  the  device.  On  the  arrival  of  Claudius  in  heaven 
the  gods  are  called  in  council  to  determine  what  shall  be  done 
with  the  strange  arrival.  Diespiter  speaks  first,  then  the 
deified  Augustus;  and  so  on  down  the  list. 

In  the  first  book  of  the  Thebaid  (1.  197)  Statius  describes 
a  i  concilium  deorum.'  Jove  has  called  the  gods  from  the 
various  regions  of  earth  and  heaven  to  deliberate  on  the  punish- 
ment of  the  hostile  cities  Argos  and  Thebes  (geminas  punire 
domos  1.  224).  The  poet  describes  the  council  in  his  usual 
rhetorical  manner,  dwelling  at  length  on  the  artistic  features 
of  the  spacious  halls  in  which  they  assemble,  and  introducing 
deities  that  are  new  to  the  tradition : 

At  Jovis  imperils  rapidi  super  atria  caeli 
lectus  concilio  divum  convenerat  ordo 
interiore  polo,  spatiis  hinc  omnia  iuxta 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  31 

primaeque  occiduaeque  domus  et  fusa  sub  omni 
terra  atque  unda  die;  mediis  sese  ardims  infert 
ipse  dels,  placido  quatiens  tamen  omnia  vultu 
stellantique  locat  solio;  nee  protinus  ausi 
caelicolae,  veniam  donee  pater  ipse  sedendi 
tranquilla  iubet  esse  manu,  mox  turba  vagorum 
semideum  et  summis  cognati  nubibus  Amnes 
aurea  tecta  replent.     mixta  convexa  deorum 
maiestate  tremunt,  radiunt  maiore  sereno 
culmina  et  arcano  florentes  lumine  postes. 
postquam  iussa  quies  siluitque  exterritus  orbis 
incipit  ex  alto  (grave  et  immutabile  sanctis 
pondus  adest  verbis,  et  vocem  Fata  sequuntur). 

With  this  compare  VergiPs  treatment  of  the  motif.  In  the 
tenth  book  of  the  Aeneid  (1.  1  ff.)  Jupiter  calls  a  council  of 
the  gods  and  goddesses  to  urge  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
Trojans  and  Itali  to  unanimity  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  the 
war.  Vergil's  treatment  of  the  theme  is  comparatively  simple : 

panditur   interea  domus  omnipotentis   Olympi, 
conciliumque  vocat  divum  pater  atque  hominum  rex 
sideream  in  sedem:  terras  unde  arduus  omnes, 
castraque  Dardanidum  aspectat,  populosque  Latinos, 
considunt  tectis  bipatentibus.     incipit  ipse. 

As  in  other  descriptions  of  the  home  of  the  gods  the  place  of 
assembly  is  represented  as  a  temple,  in  this  case,  commanding 
a  view  of  all  lands,  the  camp  of  the  Dardanidae  and  the 
peoples  of  Latium.  The  description  is  simple.  The  council 
is  held  in  a  starry  dwelling — i  sedes  siderea  ? — whose  structure 
is  that  of  a  Greek  temple,  amphiprostyle  (tectis  bipatentibus)  1 
At  Jupiter's  summons  all  the  gods  appear,  file  into  the  building 
and  take  their  seats  ready  for  the  discussion.  Nothing  is  said 

1  Some  interpreters  of  Virgil  maintain,  however,  that  this  means  '  with 
doors  opening  back  both  ways.'  See  Conington's  note,  which  refers  to 
Vitruvius,  m,  1,  10  (in,  2,  8). 


32  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

as  to  the  order  in  which  they  sit  down.  From  the  apparent 
calm  and  order  of  the  situation  one  would  judge  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  such  councils,  and  each  knew  his  place. 
Very  similar  in  this  respect  is  the  description  (A  en.  6,  433) 
of  the  council  in  the  lower  world  held  by  Minos  to  enquire 
into  the  records  of  the  souls  that  have  come  within  his  juris- 
diction, and  to  assign  penalties  to  them: 

ille  silentum 

conciliumque  vocat  vitasque  et  crimina  discit. 
proxima  deinde  tenent  maesti  loca,  qui  sibi  letum 
insontes  peperere  manu,  lucemque  perosi 
proicere  animas:  quam  vellent  aethere  in  alto 
nunc  et  pauperiem  et  duros  perferre  labores! 

One  naturally  turns  to  Homer  for  the  sources  of  the  Vergil 
passage.  In  the  fourth  book  of  the  Iliad  (1.  1  ff.)  the  theme 
appears.  Zeus  and  Hera  are  holding  a  heated  debate  before 
the  assembled  gods  over  the  Trojans  and  Achaeans: 

ol  Se  debt  Trap  Zrjm  /caOtj/Jievoi  rjyopdwvTO 
Xpv&eq)  ev  SaTreSft),  fjiera  &e  crfyicri,  Trdrma  "H/8?; 
vefcrap  eayvo%dei,  •  rol  8e  %pvo-eoL<;  SeTrdea-o'iv 

,  Tpcocov  7rd\w  el&opdcovres. 


Here  the  assembly  takes  the  form  of  a  feast.  As  befitted 
a.  feast  of  the  gods  it  was  marked  by  splendor.  The  floor  of 
Olympus'  home  was  of  gold:  Hebe  poured  nectar  for  the  as- 
sembled throng  :  and  they  .pledged  each  other  in  cups  of  gold. 
But  these  details  are  given  in  a  very  few  words.  Homer  does 
not  dwell  on  detail  with  elaborate  description.  These  are 
*'  lines,7  says  Lessing  (Laocoon,  p.  138,  Phillimore's  Trans.) 
"  in  which  lies  the  material  for  a  picture,  but  which  are  no 
picture  in  themselves.'  And  in  his  criticism  of  them  he  con- 
tinues :  t  An  Apollonius,  or  even  a  yet  inferior  poet,  could 
not  have  written  more  poorly:  and  here  Homer  remains  far 
below  the  painter.7  The  same  absence  of  elaborate  description 
is  to  be  noted  in  the  account  of  the  assembly  in  Iliad  8.  1  ff.  : 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins 

JH<w<?  fjiev  KpoKOTreTrXos  ItciSvaro  Trao-av  eV  alav, 
Zeu?  Se  0ewv  ayopvjv  TroirjcraTO  TepTTL/cepavvos 


a/cporrrj 

avrbs  Se  aft  ayopeve,  6eol  £'  VTTO  Trdvres  a/covov. 

Zeus  here  convenes  the  gods  '  on  the  uppermost  peak  of 
myriad-crested  Olympus.'  That  is  as  far  as  the  description 
goes,  beyond  the  detail  that  Eos  '  in  her  mantle  of  saffron  was 
flooding  the  world  with  her  glory.'  A  reference  to  this  setting, 
and  to  lupiter's  speech  following,  is  seen  in  Valerius  Flaccus 
(Arg.  2,  82-86)  : 

tempore  quo  primum  fremitus  insurgere  opertos 
caelicolum  et  regni  sensit  novitate  tumentes 
luppiter  aetheriae  nee  stare  silentia  pacis 
lunonem  volucri  primam  suspendit  Olympo 
horrendum  chaos  ostendens  poenasque  barathri. 

Valerius,  after  the  rhetorical  manner,  gives  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  threats  made  by  Zeus  in  the  Iliad  (8,  1  ff.)?  in  case 
any  of  the  gods  should  venture  to  match  himself  against  him. 
This  rhetorical  expansion  of  the  theme  is  part  of  the  same 
tendency  as  is  seen  in  Statius. 

Somewhat  more  detailed  is  the  description  of  the  '  concilium  ? 
in  Iliad  20,  4.  The  unusual  features  have  indeed  given  rise  to 
discussion,  and  some  commentators  have  been  inclined  to  look 
upon  the  passage  as  spurious  on  their  account.  6  The  scholia 
assign  various  reasons,'  says  Leaf,  '  for  the  absence  of  Okeanus, 
but  Heyne  justly  remarks  that  this  is  less  strange  than  the  pres- 
ence of  Nymphs  and  Rivers  in  a  council  of  the  gods.  He  thinks 
that  Y-9  may  have  been  interpolated  to  account  for  the  presence 
of  the  River  Skamandros  in  the  Theomachy  as  one  of  the  gods. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  as  Hestia,  the  personification  of  the 
fixed  dwelling,  alone  stays  away  from  the  solemn  procession  of 
the  gods  in  the  Phcedrus  (247  A)  so  Okeanus  is  absent,  because 
he  is  the  bond  that  holds  the  world  together.' 

Here  the  council  meets  on  the  '  crest  of  ribbed  Olympus,' 


34  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

summoned  by  Themis.  All  the  gods  are  present  :  the  Nymphs 
and  the  Rivers,  all  except  Okeamis.  They  sit  down  in  the  col- 
onnades that  stretch  along  after  one  another,  built  for  Zeus  by 
Hephaestus.  Poseidon  is  the  spokesman.  These  are  the  special 
features  of  the  description.  It  will  be  seen  that  here  there  is 
considerably  more  detail  given  than  in  the  other  passages.  It 
does  seem  strange  that  Rivers  and  Nymphs  should  appear: 
hence  some  have  considered  the  passage  spurious,  added  by  a 
much  later  hand.  But  even  admitting  its  genuineness,  one  can 
see  that  there  is  not  the  same  love  for  description  of  the  artistic 
as  in  the  Statius  passage  :  and  here  one  feels  that  the  divinity  of 
the  Nymphs  and  Rivers  is  more  or  less  indistinct  and  shadowy. 
With  the  Homer  passage  already  cited  compare  Od.  5,  1  ff.  — 
the  description  of  an  assembly  at  which  Athena  pleads  the  cause 
of  Odysseus,  who  is  detained  on  Calypso's  island.  Here,  too, 
there  is  an  avoidance  of  detailed  description  : 


'Ho>9  8'  e/e  Xe^ecov  Trap'  ayavov 
wpvvf)'  LV*  aOavdroun  <£>oo>9  <f>epoi  rjbe 
ol  Se  6eoi  Oco/cdvSe  KaOtf^avov,  ev  S'  apa 
Zeu?  wlnftpefierr)?,  011  re  /cpaTos  ecrrl 


With  the  Roman  poets  the  tendency  is  toward  minuteness  of 
description,  as  in  Ovid  (Met.  1,  167  ff.)«  In  tins  passage  Jove 
calls  a  council  of  the  gods  to  put  a  stop  to  the  bloody  struggle  of 
the  Gigantes,  fearing  that  there  should  be  no  remnant  of  the 
race  left  upon  the  earth  : 

Ingentes  animo  et  dignas  Jove  concipit  iras 
conciliumque  vocat.  tenuit  nulla  mora  vocatos. 
est  via  sublimis,  caBlo  manifesta  sereno; 
lactea  nomen  habet,  candore  notabilis  ipso. 
hac  iter  est  superis  ad  magni  tecta  Tonantis 
regalemque  domum.  dextra  Isevaque  deorum 
atria  nobilium  valvis  celebrantur  apertis; 
plebs  habitat  diversa  locis  ;  a  f  ronte  potentes 
cselicolse  clarique  suos  posuere  Penates. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  8tatius  35 

hie  locus  est  quern,  si  verbis  audacia  detur, 
baud  timeam  magni  dixisse  Palatia  cseli. 
ergo  ubi  marmoreo  superi  sedere  recessu. 
celsior  ipse  loco  sceptroque  innixus  eburno 
terrificam  capitis  concussit  terque  quaterque 
csesariem,  cum  qua  terrain  mare  sidera  movit. 

Ovid's  description  of  tbe  place  of  assembly  is  very  much  in 
terms  of  the  Palatia,  the  house  of  Augustus  on  the  Palatine: 
with  an  apology  for  his  boldness  he  suggests  that  he  would  call 
it  the  Palatia  of  great  heaven.  He  describes  it  in  detail.  The 
gods  come  up  by  the  'milky  way '  to  the  home  of  the  great 
thunderer,  where  the  assembly  takes  place.  To  the  right  and 
left  of  the  inner  mansion  occupied  by  Jove  are  the  halls  of  the 
noble  gods  who  crowd  in  the  open  doors :  the  common  gods  have 
their  abodes  apart  from  these.  In  front  of  Jove's  palace  the 
powerful  among  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  have  reared  their 
abode.  The  summoned  gods  sit  down  within  a  marble  retreat 
and  Jove,  who  seems  to  have  restrained  his  anger  as  long  as  he 
can,  shakes  his  great  locks  in  token  of  his  wrath  and  proceeds  to 
the  discussion.  He  is  described  as  towering  above  all  the  others 
and  leaning  on  an  ivory  sceptre. 

The  purpose  of  Ovid's  description  seems  to  be,  not  to  dwell 
on  the  splendor  of  the  royal  abode,  but  to  fix  it  before  the  mind 
of  the  reader  in  the  most  vivid  manner.  It  is  in  keeping  with 
his  incomparable  genius  for  story-telling  that  with  a  few  strokes 
he  places  before  one  the  whole  scene  in  a  form  that  is  thoroughly 
familiar.  Beyond  this  his  description  does  not  go:  it  is  sub- 
sidiary to  his  narrative  merely,  and  he  gives  enough  for  his 
purpose. 

With  Statins  the  case  is  different.  He  cannot  resist  the 
instinct  to  describe  in  detail  all  the  splendor  of  the  palace  in 
which  the  assembly  convenes.  The  reflexion  from  vaulted  ceil- 
ing, the  brilliancy  of  golden  doors,  with  the  majesty  of  assem- 
bled gods,  are  dwelt  on  at  length.  In  Theb.  1,  197,  as  noted 


36  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

above,  the  i  concilium  deorum '  is  held  for  the  purpose  of  delib- 
erating on  the  fate  of  Argos  and  Thebes.  Jove  is  in  sore 
straits  what  course  to  pursue  in  as  much  as  he  is  interested  in 
both  cities  as  their  founder.  In  answer  to  his  summons  the  gods 
assemble : 

at  lovis  imperiis  rapidi  super  atria  casli 
lectus  concilio  divum  convener  at  or  do 
interiore  polo 

Statius  places  the  assembly  in  the  centre  of  heaven  (interiore 
polo — see  Lactant.  on  1.  199.)  :  East  and  West  of  this  point  lie 
the  homes  of  all  the  other  gods.  He  describes  Jove's  appear- 
ance as  he  entered  the  assembly,  and  gives  his  position  among 
the  gods — the  great  god  sits  down  on  his  starry  throne.  Next 
he  enumerates  some  of  the  gods  as  they  file  in  to  their  places  in 
the  assembly-hall:  not  only  are  the  regular  gods  present,  but  a 
crowd  of  demi-gods,  Winds  and  Streams.  Then  he  passes  to 
the  description  of  the  dwellings  of  the  gods,  which  are  of  gold : 
their  ceilings  reflect  the  glare  and  majesty  of  the  gods:  the  roof 
and  doors  also  shine  with  their  radiance. 

Statius'  description  is  not  without  its  beauty.  The  passage, 
studied  closely  in  point  of  versification  and  sentence  structure 
— the  balancing  of  substantive  and  epithet,  subject  and  verb — 
is  perfect.  In  content,  too,  it  is  beautiful — Jove's  appearance, 
(  placido  quatiens  tamen  omnia  vultu ? ;  the  starry  throne ;  the 
Streams  i  near  kin  to  the  highest  clouds/  and  the  Winds  '  that 
suppress  their  murmurs  from  fear  ' :  then  the  golden  dwellings 
which  reflect  the  radiance  of  the  gods.  It  is,  however,  the 
beauty  of  magnificence,  not  of  simplicity,  the  beauty  of  an  elab- 
orately finished  building  in  which  every  detail  is  added  that 
will  give  the  effect  of  splendor. 

In  his  introduction  of  Streams  and  Rivers  into  the  '  concil- 
ium 7  he  has  authority,  as  we  have  seen,  in  Homer's  Rivers  and 
Nymphs.  The  '  Winds  '  are  mentioned  first  by  him,  and  there 
is  no  representation  of  them  in  art  as  taking  their  place  in  the 
councils  of  the  gods:  though  representations  of  them  as  gods 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  37 

were  common.  But  in  Statins  they  get  more  attention.  They 
are  described  more  minutely,  and  their  divinity  is  less  shadowy 
than  in  the  other  passages.  One  cannot  say,  however,  that  Sta- 
tins has  set  his  description  into  the  form  of  a  picture  any  more 
than  previous  poets  did.  From  the  nature  of  the  subject  a  pic- 
ture is  always  easily  suggested;  in  Homer  where  the  gods  are 
reclining  at  a  feast,  and  Ovid  where  they  meet  in  a  spacious 
dwelling  of  marble.  What  he  has  done  is  to  introduce  more  of 
art  than  any  of  the  others;  io  conventionalise  the  motif,  and 
make  it  an  occasion  for  elaborate  description.  He  stops  to  im- 
press on  us  the  effects  of  ceiling  and  roof  of  gold — shining  pil- 
lars and  reflected  radiance  of  the  gods.  One  feels  that  with  him 
the  description  is  what  is  of  prime  importance,  whereas  in  pre- 
vious poets  it  was  merely  a  setting  for  the  narrative. 

And  Statins  set  the  fashion  for  succeeding  poets.  What  they 
did  with  this  bit  of  epic  material  can  be  seen  from  passages  in 
Sidonius  Apollinaris  and  Claudianus.  The  passion  for  detailed 
analysis  and  description  is  indulged  to  a  still  greater  degree: 
indeed,  the  incident  is  taken  as  the  occasion  for  the  introduction 
of  all  the  poet's  learning  concerning  the  gods,  their  habits  and 
attributes.  It  will  suffice  to  cite  the  passages  with  very  little 
comment,  to  show  what  has  taken  place.  Sidonius  introduces 
the  motif  in  his  Panegyricus  Avit.  Aug.  1.  20  if. : 

iamque  ut  conveniant  superi,  Tegeaticus  ales 
mine  plantis,  nunc  fronte  volat:  vix  contigit  arva: 
et  toto  descendit  avo.  mare,  terra  vel  aer 
indigenas  misere  deos.  germane  Tonantis 
prime  venis,  viridi  qui  Dorida  findere  curru 
suetus  in  attonita  spargis  cito  terga  serenum: 
umentes  Nymphas  Forcus  comitatur  ibique 
glaucus,  Glauce,  venis,  vatum  et  certissime  Proteu, 
certus  eras,     longo  veniunt  post  ordine  divi: 
pampineus  Liber,  Mars  trux,  Tirynthius  hirtus 
nuda  Venus,  fecunda  Ceres,  pharetrata  Diana, 
luno  gravis,  prudens  Pallas,  turrita  Cybele, 


38  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Saturmis  profugus,  vaga  Cynthia,  Phoebus  ephebus 
Pan  pavidus,  Fauni  rigidi,  Satyri  petulantes. 
convenere  etiam  caelum  virtute  tenentes : 
Castor  equo,  Pollux  csestu,  turn  Perseus  harpe, 
fulmine  Vulcanus,  Tiphys  rate,  gente  Quirinus. 
quis  canat  hie  aulam  cseli,  rutilantia  cuius 
ipsa  pavimentum  sunt  sidera  ?  iam  pater  aureo 
tranquillus  sese  solio  locat,  inde  priores 
consedere  dei  (fluviis  quoque  contigit  illo, 
sed  senibus,  residere  loco,  tibi,  maxime  fluctu 
Eridane  et  flavis  in  pocula  fracte  Sygambris, 
Rhene  tumens,  Scythiseque  vagis  equitate  catervis 
Hister  et  ignotum  plus  notus,  Mle,  per  ortum). 

In  this  description  Mercury,  as  is  natural,  is  the  herald  who 
summons  the  gods  to  council.  Not  any  one  is  left  out  who  by 
any  possible  means  can  prove  his  claim  to  deity.  As  they  come 
up  the  poet  addresses  each  one  and  describes  him,  giving  at 
least  the  conventional  attributes  by  which  he  is  known.  Even 
in  his  description  of  Mercury  the  poet  has  to  show  that  he  was 
acquainted  with  representations  of  the  god  in  which  he 
appeared,  now  with  wings  on  his  head,  now  with  wings  on  his 
feet.  But  to  cite  the  passage  is  sufficient. 

Less  artificial  but  with  the  same  tendency  is  the  description 
of  the  ' concilium'  in  Claudianus,  De  Rapt.  Pros.  Ill  (36), 
1  ff.  Jove  has  here  called  a  council  of  the  gods  to  revive  agri- 
culture and  to  put  an  end  to  the  life  of  idleness  that  has  fol- 
lowed the  loss  of  Proserpina : 

luppiter  interea  cinctam  Thaumantida  nimbis 
ire  iubet  totoque  deos  arcessere  mundo. 
ilia  colorato  Zephyros  inlapsa  volatu 
numina  conclamat  pelagi  Nymphasque  morantes 
increpat  et  Fluvios  umentibus  evocat  antris. 
ancipites  trepidique  ruunt,  quse  causa  quietos 
excierit,  tanto  quse  res  agitanda  tumultu. 
ut  patuit  stellata  domus,  considere  iussi, 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  39 

nee  eonfusus  honor:  cselestibus  ordine  sedes 
prima  datur :  tractum  procer.es  tenuere  secundum 
sequorei,  placidus  Kerens  reverendaque  Phorci 
canities:  Glaucum  series  extrema  biformem 
accipit  et  certo  mansurum  Protea  vultu. 
nee  non  et  senibus  Fluviis  concessa  sedendi 
1  gloria :  plebeio  stat  cetera  more  iuventus. 
mille  Amnes.  liquidis  incumbunt  patribus  udse 
Naides  et  taciti  mirantur  sidera  Fauni. 

In  Claudianus  as  well  as  Sidonius  the  description  is  tho- 
roughly conventionalised.  All  the  various  deities  are  called  up 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  picture.  They  are  arranged  and 
grouped  almost,  as  it  were,  for  the  photographer,  the  gods  sit- 
ting in  the  order  of  rank:  nymphs  reclined  on  their  father's 
laps  and  lesser  gods  standing  as  common  folk  should.  In  the 
description  all  the  poet  attempts  to  add  is  a  conventional  detail 
which  the  others  may  have  omitted.1 


Theb.  3.  409. 

To  create  a  setting  for  the  description  of  a  night  of  unrest 
for  King  Adrastus — a  night  in  which  the  war-god,  attended 

1  Further  references  to  the  '  concilium  deorum '  are  Valerius  Flac- 
cus  (1,  210  ff.)  and  Statius  (Ach.  2,  56  ff.).  In  the  Valerius  passage  the 
seagods  gather  to  resent  the  violence  being  done  them  by  the  launching 
of  a  ship;  but  after  each  god  speaks  his  mind  they  determine  to  receive 
the  ship  upon  their  waters: 

heu  quemnam  aspicio!   nostris  modo  concitus  ausis 
aequoreos  vocat  ecce  deos  Neptunus  et  ingens 
concilium,   fremere  et  legem   defendere  cuncti 
hortantur. 

And  Stat.  Ach.  2.  56.     Here  the  gods  have  assembled  to  see  the  issue  of  the 
contest  for  the  prize  of  beauty  among  the  goddesses; 

atque  adeo  lis  ilia  tuis  exorta  sub  antris 
concilio  superum. 

Cf.  Silv.  in,  2,  4. 


40  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

by  his  horrible  retinue,  Euror,  Ira,  Pavor,  and  preceded  by 
ever-wakeful  Fama,  goes  forth  to  breathe  his  spirit  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Argives,  Statius  describes  Sol  as  he  sinks  to  his 
ocean-bed  after  his  long  day's  toil  (TJieb.  3.  409).  About  him 
crowd  the  Nereids  and  the  Horae,  his  female  squires,  so  to 
speak,  to  release  his  worn-out  steeds  from  the  car,  and  lead 
them  away  to  their  pasture.  The  fancy  is  beautiful,  not  ori- 
ginal with  Statius  by  any  means,  though  not  borrowed  wholly. 
An  examination  will  serve  to  show  Statius'  stylistic  tendency  : 

Solverat  Hesperii  devexo  margine  ponti 
nagrantis  Sol  pronus  equos  rutilamque  lavabat 
Oceani  sub  fonte  comam,  cui  turba  profundi 
Nereos  et  rapidis  accurrunt  passibus  Horae, 
frenaque  et  auratae  textum  sublime  coronae 
deripiunt,  laxant  calidis  umentia  loris 
pectora;  pars  meritos  vertunt  ad  molle  iugalis 
gramen  et  erecto  currum  temone  supinant. 

As  early  as  Homer  the  Horae  were  represented  as  attendants 
on  some  god  or  other.  Their  function  was  not  always  con- 
ceived of  as  the  same,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following 
citations  from  Homer  ;  and  sometimes  other  gods  performed  for 
their  superiors  such  a  service  as  they  here  perform  for  Sol. 
If  a  source  need  be  found  for  Statius,  probably  it  is  the  pas- 
sage in  the  eighth  book  of  the  Iliad  —  where  the  Horae  attend 
Hera  on  her  return  to  Olympus  from  the  Trojan  plain,  and 
put  away  her  steeds: 


0)9  apa  <f)0)vri(Tao-a  TTCL\IV  rpeire  fJL(0 
rfjcnv  &'  rfl/ocu  /JLCV  \va~av 
Kal  TOW  fjiev  KareSr)crav  err' 
api^ara  S'  eic\ivav  TT/SO?  kv& 

(II.  8,  432.) 

In  like  manner  Zeus  was  attended  by  Poseidon  on  his  return 
to  Olympus  from  Ida: 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  41 

Zeu?  £e  TraTTjp  "ISrjOev  evrpo^ov  ap^a  /cal  ITTTTOVS 

Ov\vjJL'7rov8e  Siw/ce,  OeS)v  S'  ef  faero 

TW  Se  /cal  iTrTrovs  pev  \vae  /cXuro? 

ap/mara  £J  a/ju  /8&>/itot<7t  riOei,  Kara  \lra  Trerdcraas  • 

(Id.  438.) 

And  so  too  Iris  tends  Aphrodite's  steeds  (II.  5,  365). 

Ovid  in  his  version  of  the  duties  of  the  Horae  adds  nothing 
new  except  that  they  lead  forth  the  steeds  from  their  stalls  in 
the  morning,  hitch  them  to  Titan's  car  and  prepare  them  for 
the  day's  journey.  On  that  memorable  day  when  PhaethoE 
essayed  to  drive  Sol's  steeds,  the  Horae  brought  them  forth  at 
Sol's  command,  and  made  them  ready  for  the  youth: 

dumque  ea  magnanimus  Phaethon  miratur  opusque 
perspicit,  ecce  vigil  rutilo  patefecit  ab  ortu 
purpureas  Aurora  fores  et  plena  rosarum 
atria,  diffugiunt  stellae,  quarum  agmina  cogit 
Lucifer,  et  caeli  statione  novissimus  exit. 
quern  petere  ut  terras  mundumque  rubescere'  vidit 
cornuaque  extremae  velut  evanescere  lunae, 
iungere  equos  Titan  velocibus  imperat  Horis, 
iussa  deae  celeres  peragunt,  ignemque  vomentes 
ambrosiae  suco  saturos  praesepibus  altis 
quadrupedes  ducunt  adduntque  sonantia  frena. 

Met.  2,  111. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  comparison  of  Statius'  version  it 
will  be  interesting  to  see  how  Nonnus,  the  fifth  century  poet, 
has  maintained  the  tradition  of  the  Ovid  passage.  Here  the 
Horae  perform  the  same  office  for  Sol,  bringing  the  steeds  out 
from  their  stall  at  dawn  to  yoke  them  for  Phaethon.  As  in 
Ovid  their  service  is  merely  mentioned.  In  contrast  with  the 
Statius  passage  no  time  is  spent  by  the  poet  in  lingering  over 
the  details  of  their  work  : 


<f>ae#oz>T09  eirecnripL^e  /caprjva* 
,  ea>  <5e  /M 


42  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 


eTrrardvovs  aKrlvas  eVl  ir\oicdpoicriv 

/cvtc\<*)cra<;  <TTe<t>av7)$bv  eV  II-  w  \evtcd8a 

/cat  fJLiv  ave^Kaivtixrev  ew    irvpoevn 

Kal  TrdSa  (f)OLVicro-ovTi  Sieo-tyrj/ccoo-e  T 

TTcu&l  8e  Sfypov  eScofce  •  /cat  77(077?  cnro 

ITTTTOVS  'HeXtoio  TrvptoSeas  rjyayov  *£lpai, 

Kal  6pacrvs  et<?  £,wyov  rf\.6ev  'Etwcr^opo?,  a/Acfrl  Se 

LTTTTIOV  av^eva  8ov\ov  eTre/cXrjio-o-e  \e7rd8vy. 

(Nonn.  Dion.  38,  291  ff.) 

As  hinted  above  Statins  lingers  over  his  description  of  the 
Horae,  and  this  produces  a  peculiar  effect.  Besides  the  Hoa-ae, 
Nereids  too  come  up  to  render  their  services  to  Sol.  These 
goddesses  divide  themselves  into  groups,  one  group  busying  it- 
self with  the  removal  of  the  steeds'  harness  and  adornment, 
another  spreading  out  food  for  them,  another  still,  taking  the 
car  aside  and  laying  it  back  with  pole  erect.  This  grouping 
suggests  a  painting.  The  ancient  commentators  noted  this. 
Lactantius  (on  1.  410)  says  —  '  accurrunt  Horae  7  quasi  Solis 
Horae  sint  comites.  praeterea  descriptionis  istius  consideranda 
pictura,  quemadmodum  diversae  diversis  fung&ntur  officiis. 
This  effect  he  has  secured,  not  intentionally  but  inevitably, 
by  his  expansion  of  the  traditional  passage.  To  Homer's  group 
of  attendants  he  has  added  the  Nereids,  he  has  separated  the 
Horae  into  a  greater  number  of  groups,  has  dwelt  more  on  the 
trappings  of  the  horses  to  give  occasion  for  more  work  about 
them  and,  hence,  for  more  groups  of  figures. 

This  characteristic  of  the  poet  and  his  age  is  seen  in  his 
Propempticon  to  M.  Maecius  Celer  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  Syria  (Silvae  3,  2).  The  poet  addresses  a  prayer  to  the 
Nereids  (1.  13  ff.)  beseeching  them  for  safe  conduct  for  his 
friend,  and  the  description  of  the  escort  he  entreats  is  elabor- 
ated at  great  length  and  in  minute  detail.  An  examination  of 
this  poem  and  the  discussion  of  its  relation  to  the  canon  laid 
down  for  the  Propempticon  of  an  earlier  time  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  subject  under  consideration  in  this  thesis: 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  43 

v.  25.  hums  utrumque  latus  molli  praecingite  gyro, 
partitae  vices  vos  stuppea  tendite  mail 
vincula,  vos  summis  adnectite  sipara  veils, 
vos  Zephyris  aperite  sinus:  pars  transtra  reponat, 
pars  demittat  aquis  curvae  moderamina  puppis; 
sint  quibus  exploret  *  primas  gravis  artemo  barcas  * 

etc. 

\7ollmer  has  an  interesting  note  os.  this  poem.  Of  it  he  re- 
marks '  Zwar  ist  uns  auch  von  einem  Romer  vor  Statius  kein 
durchgefiihrtes  Propempticon  erhalten  '  and  he  cites  the  various 
poems  that  can  in  a  loose  way  be  subsumed  under  this  name. 
He  notes,  however,  that  Statius  followed  Horace  (Od.  1,  3)  in 
this  poem,  and  Dr.  Shorey  in  his  edition  of  Horace  cites  Silvae 
3,  2  as  '  a  diffuse  imitation '  of  the  former.  Dr.  Shorey  also 
without  hesitation  calls  Horace's  poem  a  Propempticon.  (Of. 
Kiessling,  Horace,  1.  c.)  And  Vollmer  really  qualifies  his 
own  statement  when  he  suggests  that  the  difference  between 
Horace's  treatment  of  such  a  poem,  and  that  of  Statius  gives 
an  insight  into  the  difference  in  the  natures  of  the  two  poets 
and  in  the  genius  of  their  times.  He  observes  the  influence 
of  poetry  in  determining  rhetorical  standards,  and  on  the  other 
hand  the  canons  laid  down  by  rhetoric  as  to  what  such  and 
such  a  poetic  form  should  contain,  citing  Menander,  the  rheto- 
rician of  the  third  or  fourth  century,  for  the  standard  by  which 
the  writer  of  a  Propempticon  should  shape  his  work.  He  says 
— Statius  hat  dabei  nicht  nur  seine  dichterischen  Vorganger 
(hier  besonders  Horaz  Car.  1.  3)  verwertet,  sondern  fusst 
deutlich  auf  den  natiirlich  mit  Benutzung  der  Dichter  ge- 
schaffenen  rhetorischen  Vorschriften  der  Schule,  die  uns  Me- 
nander (Rh.  Gr.  ed.  Sp.  3,  399)  wenigstens  andeutend  kennen 
lehrt  :  eav  Se  Sia  6a\aTTij<;  avdyrjrcu,  e/cei  crou  i^vr^jir]  Oa\arri(ov 
,  Alywrtov  T[pcDTe(t)s,'Av6r)Soviov  TXavtcov,  N?;/oeW, 
teal  arvvOedvrfov  rfj  vrjt',  fcal  crvvrjSofJievodv  &e\<f)iv(ov 
re  cifjua  /cal  KIJTWV  r&v  [lev  (TCUVOVTCOV,  rcov  Se  vTrofavydvrcov  cos 
avrov  rrjv  vavv  TrpoTrefJLTrovros  •  v]  8e  vavs  OeiTO)  Oeois 
avBpa  (frepovaa,  ea)?  av  Trpoa-aydyrjs  avrbv  rot?  \i/J,ea-i, 


44  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 


TO>  \dyq>,  Karaa-rpe^rei^  Se  els  ev^rjv  TOV  \d<yov  alrwv 
T&V  6eS)v  TO,  KaXkLcrra. 

And  the  note  continues  —  'Es  1st  wohl  sicher,  dass  ein  voll- 
standiger  Schulschema  auch  schon  zu  Horaz'  Zeiten  bestanden 
hat  ;  so  gewahrt  der  Vergleich  beider  Gedichte  einen  bezeichnen- 
den  Einblick  in  die  Verschiedenheit  der  Natur  beider  wie  ihrer 
Zeit.  Horaz  schlagt  den  Ton  des  Schema  mm  an  und  lasst 
dann  von  eiiiem  Gedanken,  der  ihn  besonders  ergreift,  fort- 
reissen,  so  dass  er  den  Anfang  gar  nicht  wieder  aufnimmt: 
Statins  fiihrt  nicht  ohne  Kunst  und  Selbstandigkeit  in  einzelnen 
gewissenhaft  den  vorgeschriebenen  Plan  aus.'  And  for  this 
difference  which  the  two  poets  show  in  their  treatment  of  this 
poetic  form,  Vollmer  cites  the  fact  that  Horace's  poem  is  ad- 
dressed to  the  poet  Vergil,  whereas  Statins'  Propempticon  is  ad- 
dressed to  a  high  official  of  his  time  whose  standard  of  taste 
was  fixed  by  the  canons  of  the  School.  Evidently  he  is  assum- 
ing that  this  canon  existed  before  Statins'  time,  though  there 
is  nothing  to  show  it.  Indeed,  the  point  to  be  made  from  the 
comparison  with  Horace's  Propempticon  is  that  since  his  time 
the  treatment  of  such  a  theme  as  was  handled  in  this  poem 
became  more  and  more  artificial,  and  Menander  the  Rhetori- 
cian has  merely  formulated  the  rules  which  had  come  to  be 
recognised  by  the  rhetoricians  from  such  tendencies  in  the 
poets  as  we  see  in  Statins.  At  the  outset  Vollmer  himself 
recognises  the  influence  that  poetic  standards  exerted  on 
Rhetoric. 

The  difference  then  between  Horace's  and  Statius'  handling 
of  the  Propempticon  indicates  the  difference  in  the  genius  of 
the  poets  and  of  the  age  in  which  they  worked:  Statius'  mul- 
tiplication of  details,  his  introduction  of  numerous  attendant 
deities,  separated  into  groups  each  having  its  own  function  to 
perform:  his  picture-drawing  with  reference  to  all  the  super- 
natural beings  introduced,  for  instance,  his  description  of  Glau- 
cus,  Triton,  Nereus,  and  Palaemon  (the  ever-recurring  Palae- 
mon),  all  these  give  to  his  treatment  the  effect  of  a  fresco  in 
which  goddesses,  Nereids  and  demi-gods  are  grouped.  Even 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statius  45 

the  rhetorician  would  say  that  the  poet's  love  for  plastic  art 
had  carried  him  beyond  the  artificial  canon  of  the  school,  if 
we  are  to  assume  that  his  work  was  constructed  according  to 
their  methods. 

A  picture  somewhat  similar  to  that  observed  in  Silv.  3,  2, 
25  ff.  is  given  in  Ach.  1,  52  ff.  The  poet  is  describing  Neptune 
as  he  comes  up  from  a  feast  of  good  cheer  with  Oceanus,  his 
face  suffused  with  joy  from  the  nectar  of  the  sea.  Again  the 
description  takes  a  form  such  as  might  easily  have  appeared  on 
a  fresco.  The  god  glides  through  the  water,  driving  his  team 
of  seals,  and  about  him  as  he  goes  play  the  dolphins  whom 
Dionysus  had  once  transformed  from  human  shape,  monsters 
large  as  great  crags,  and  the  Tritons  who  carry  his  arms  and 
blow  their  horns : 

Oceano  veniebat  ab  hospite,  mensis 
laetus  et  aequoreo  diffusus  nectare  vultus, 
unde  hiemes  ventique  silent  cantuque  quieto 
armigeri  Tritones  eunt  scopulosaque  cete    . 
Tyrrhenique  greges  circumque  infraque  rotantur 
rege  salutato;  placidis  ipse  arduus  undis 
eminet,  et  triplici  telo  iubet  ire  iugales: 
illi  spumiferos  glomerant  a  pectore  eursus, 
pone  natant  delentque  pedum  vestigia  cauda. 

The  picture  has  become  thoroughly  conventional.  Whether 
any  painting  with  such  grouping  as  this  actually  existed  or  not 
cannot  be  stated  positively,  but  the  effect  of  a  painting  is 
given :  and  enough  examples  have  been  cited  to  show  the  inter- 
working  of  art  upon  poetry,  and  poetry  upon  art. 


Theb.  5.  664. 

In  the  fifth  book  of  the  Tliebaid  is  a  passage  which  illustrates 
the  sculpture  effect  given  by  some  of  Statins'  descriptions.  It 
concerns  the  death  of  the  boy  Opheltes,  and  the  events  that 
grew  out  of  it.  Hypsipyle  had  been  entrusted  by  Lycurgus  with 


46  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

the  care  of  his  infant  son  Opheltes.  In  her  absence  from  him 
the  child  had  been  attacked  by  a  serpent  and  slain.  His  cries 
had  attracted  the  careless  nurse  and  the  whole  Argive  army,  but 
their  arrival  was  too  late  to  be  of  any  avail.  l^ews  of  the  child's 
death  reached  the  ears  of  Lycurgus,  and  he,  distraught  and 
frenzied,  sought  out  Hypsipyle  to  put  her  to  death.  But  Tydeus 
and  others  of  the  Argive  warriors  intervened  to  defend  the 
woman  and  check  the  fury  of  the  maddened  father.  The  pic- 
ture that  Statius  draws  of  the  warriors  stepping  forward  to 
defend  the  woman  is  suggestive,  as  some  scholars  have  noted,  of 
the  group  of  Harmodius  and  Aristogeiton  by  Kritios  and 
Nesiotes : 

acerque  reducto 
adfuit  Hippomedon  rectoque  Erymanthius  ense. 

Gaymann  (Kunstarch'dologische  Studien,  pp.  27-28)  con- 
jectures that  the  poet  had  in  mind  the  above-mentioned  group. 
He  says — Eher  diirfte  man  eine  derartige  Nachbildung  vermu- 
ten  in  einer  anderen  Stelle  der  Thebais  wo  es  heisst  (and  he 
cites  the  passage  in  question).  Diese  eigenartige  Stellung  der 
beiden  Helden  stimmt  unverkennbar  iiberein  mit  jener  der 
Tyrannenmorder  des  Kritios  und  Nesiotes.  Die  erhaltenen 
Kopien  dieser  Gruppe  beweisen  uns  dass  letztere  in  Rom  be- 
kannt  war;  Statius  erwahnt  nun  freilich  die  beiden  Kiinstler 
nirgends ;  aber  wenn  er  auch  die  Kiinstler  nicht  kannte,  so  1st  es 
doch  moglich,  dass  er  dieses  Werk  sah  und  in  Erinnerung 
daran  die  genannten  \7erse  dichtete. 

Legras  (Etude  sur  la  Thebaide  de  Stace,  pp.  269,  270)  cites 
this  passage  from  Gaymann's  dissertation,  and  is  inclined  to 
agree  with  Gaymann — indeed,  there  is  no  proof  for  or  against. 
He  says:  Ainsi  peut-etre  connaissait-il  le  groupe  des  tyranni- 
cides, comme  le  conjecture  Gaymann:  en  tout  cas  il  reproduit 
bien  les  gestes,  mais  il  les  attribue  a  Hippomedon  et  a  Parthen- 
opee  s'elancant  centre  le  dragon  qui  a  tue  Opheltes.  And  fur- 
ther, he  goes  on  to  say — and  his  remark  here  is  in  line  with  the 
thesis  we  are  trying  to  establish — il  est  remarquable  qu'ici  le 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  47 

poete  ne  pretend  pas  deer  ire  une  ceuvre  d'art,  il  raconte  un  com- 
bat. But  Legras  does  not  connect  this  with  the  phenomenon  he 
noticed  (op.  cit.  pp.  263,  264) — viz.,  that  the  style  of  Statius  is 
i  naturellement  plastique,'  and  that  his  descriptions  often  give 
the  effect  of  a  statue  or  fresco.  Statius  may  or  may  not  have 
had  this  particular  group  in  mind,  but  certainly  the  effect  of  a 
sculpture  group  is  given,  and — as  Legras  notes — as  in  fact,  other 
examples  deduced  in  this  thesis  show — the  phenomenon 
appears  when  it  is  unexpected. 

With  the  attitudes  of  the  warriors  represented  in  this 
description  compare  the  representation  of  Harmodius  and 
Aristogeiton  on  a  Panathenaic  vase — a  fragment  of  an  oenochoe 
in  the  Boston  Museum.  The  foremost  of  the  two  is  a  youthful 
warrior  with  right  hand  upraised  prepared  to  strike  (rectoque 
. .  .  ense) :  behind  him  is  the  older  man,  a  bearded  warrior  with 
his  cloak  thrown  over  his  left  arm  for  a  shield,  and  right  arm 
drawn  back  holding  a  sword  (ense  reducto)  in  the  attitude  of 
thrusting. 


Theb.  T.  2. 

A  familiar  motif  of  Epic  also  is  that  which  is  echoed  in 
Tennyson's  Princess,,  5,  134:  '  the  lifting  of  whose  eyelash  is 
my  lord,'  and  Spenser's  Mutability,  6,  22 : 

'  His  black  eye-brows  whose  doomful  dreaded  beck 
Is  wont  to  wield  the  world  unto  his  vow,' 

or  the  speech  of  Jupiter  in  Marlowe's  Dido,  Queen  of  Car- 
thage, Act.  i,  sc.  1: 

'  By  Saturn's  soul  and  this  earth-threatening  hair 
That,  shaken  thrice,  makes  nature's  buildings  quake.' 

Statius  employs  it  at  the  opening  of  the  seventh  book  of  the 
Thebaid.  Jove  is  out  of  patience  with  the  slowness  of  the  Ar- 
gives  and  Thebans  about  coming  to  conflict,  and  as  a  sign  of 


48  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

his  disapproval  shakes  his  great  locks  at  whose  movement  earth, 
heaven  and  sea  tremble. 

Again  Statins  is  indebted  to  Vergil,  who  in  turn  draws  from 
Homer  as  his  source.  But  the  motif  is  common;  and  hence 
will  be  traced  in  a  few  of  the  most  familiar  authors,  and  their 
treatment  will  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  the  comparison  of  Statius' 
adaptation  of  it.  In  the  Aeneid  there  are  two  passages,  prac- 
tically the  same  (Aen.  10,  113  ff.  and  Aen.  9,  104  ff.).  The 
former  relates  to  the  '  concilium  deorum.'  Juno  pleads  for 
Jove's  aid  to  the  Itali  in  their  struggle  with  the  Teucri,  and  the 
king  of  heaven,  in  answer,  gives  his  word  that  he  will  favour 
neither  side  in  the  contest: 

Stygii  per  numina  fratris, 
per  pice  torrentes  atraque  voragine  ripas 
annuit,  et  totum  nutu  tremefecit  Olympum. 

In  the  second  passage  Cybele,  the  mother  of  the  gods,  is 
interceding  with  her  son  Jove  in  behalf  of  the  Trojan  ships 
which  were  made  by  Aeneas  from  the  trees  of  the  forest  given 
him  by  her.  She  is  asking  for  them  freedom  from  the  ordinary 
fate  of  ships  —  destruction  by  wind  and  tide:  and  Jove  while 
not  being  able  to  grant  them  immortality  effects  a  compromise 
with  his  mother: 

Dixerat  :  idque  ratum  Stygii  per  numina  fratris, 
per  pice  torrentes  atraque  voragine  ripas 
annuit,  et  totum  nutu  tremefecit  Olympum. 

This  is  the  version  in  its  traditional  simple  form.     In  this  form 
it  appears  in  Iliad  1,  526  if.  : 

77  KOI  Kvaverjcriv  e?r'  ofypixri  vevcre  "Kpovtov 
&  dpa  yaiTai  eTreppcoaavro 
ddavdroio 


It  will  be  noted  that  in  this  original  version  of  the  passage 
the  commotion  is  caused  by  the  movement  of  Zeus'  eye-brows: 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  49 

in  later  versions  the  movement  is  more  violent,  e.  g.,  annuit, 
caput  concussit,  etc.     It  was  from  this  original  passage  that 

Pheidias  was  inspired  to  make  his  famous  statue  of  Zeus 

as  Dio  Chrysostom,  a  contemporary  of  Statius,  observes  (12, 
383  H.)  oaa  earlv  e-Trl  7?}?  a^ak^aTa  (statues  that  ancestors 
of  the  Greeks  dedicated)  /cd\\to-Toi>  /cal  0eo<pi\eo-TaTov,  TT/OO?  rrjv 
TToirjcriv,  o>9  fyacriv,  <&€l$(ov  rjrapal^d\\0fjievov)  TOV 
o\iy<o  vevfiaTi  T&V  6(f)pvcov  TOV  (rvfATravra  "OXu/iTrov, 
0)9  e/celvos  fjidXiaTa  evapycos  /cal  TreTroiOdra)*;  ev  rot?  eirecriv  eiprjtcev 
(Of.  Val.  Max.  3,  7).  A  second  feature  is  that  the  area  affec- 
ted by  the  motion  is  confined  to  Olympus :  this  in  later  versions 
is  extended  to  include  heaven,  earth,  the  sea,  and  the  stars. 

Catullus'  version  is  given  in  64,  202  ff.  The  occasion  is 
the  prayer  of  Ariadne  to  Zeus  on  her  desertion  by  Theseus : 

Has  postquam  maesto  profudit  pectore  voces 
supplicium  saevis  exposcens  anxia  factis, 
annuit  invicto  caelestum  numine  rector, 
quo  motu  tellus  atque  horrida  contremuere 
aequora  concussitque  micantia  sidera  muiidus. 

Here  Jove's  nod  causes  an  upheaval  on  the  land,  the  wild 
sea,  and  among  the  flickering  stars.  The  area  affected  extends 
beyond  Olympus:  and  this  is  the  usual  version  in  later  poets. 
This,  however,  is  the  only  new  feature  introduced. 

Horace  merely  refers  to  the  tradition,  in  Od.  3,  1,  7-8 :  but 
by  this  time  the  reference  is  thoroughly  familiar : 

Regum  timendorum  in  proprios  greges, 
reges  in  ipsos  imperiumst  lovis, 
clari  Giganteo  triumpho 
cuncta  supercilio  moventis. 

Ovid's  treatment  of  the  motif  is  seen  in  Met.  1,  180  ff.  The 
gods  are  seated  in  council  to  discuss  the  fate  of  the  Gigantes; 
and  Jove  by  way  of  expressing  his  anger,  and  as  a  prelude  to 
his  address,  shakes  his  fear-inspiring  locks: 


50  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

celsior  ipse  loco  sceptroque  innixus  eburno 
terrificam  capitis  concussit  terque  quaterque 
caesariem,  cum  qua  terrain  mare  sidera  movit. 

Here  is  a  new  situation.  Jove  is  angry.  In  the  Homer  pas- 
sage Zeus  only  moves  his  eye-brows  to  give  assent,  and  all  Olym- 
pus trembles.  Here  the  motion  is  much  more  violent,  and  it  is 
quite  natural  that  the  area  affected  by  it  should  be  much  more 
extensive,  especially  as  the  motion  is  repeated  '  terque  qua- 
terque.' 

Eeferences  to  Jove's  nod  occur  also  in  later  poets.  In  a 
chorus  of  the  Agamemnon  of  Seneca  (1.  400)  it  appears.  The 
chorus  of  maidens  of  Mycenae  addressing  Zeus  entreat  him 
as  follows: 

tuque  ante  omnes,  pater  ac  rector 

fulmine  pollens, 
cuius  nutu  simul  extremi 
tremuere  poll. 

This  is  practically  the  Homeric  version.  Again  in  Claudian, 
De  raptu  Pros.  3,  65 : 

Dixit  et  horrendo  concussit  sidera  motu. 

Jupiter  has  just  finished  his  address  to  the  assembled  gods, 
in  which  he  laid  down  his  program  for  the  world.  He  had 
become  impatient  with  the  luxury  and  ease  of  the  time  of 
Saturn ;  and  now  wished  to  impose  upon  the  nations  the  neces- 
sity of  toil  in  order  that  by  their  struggle  with  hardship  their 
high  possibilities  might  appear.  In  this,  as  usual,  Claudian 
follows  Vergil  closely. 

What  is  probably  a  development  of  the  same  idea  appears  in 
Quintus  Smyrnaeus  (12,  196  ff.).  No  mention  is  made  of 
Zeus'  nod,  but  at  his  coming  to  Olympus  a  great  upheaval  is 
started.  A  connecting  link  between  this  passage  and  the  later 
versions  of  the  Homer  passage  is  the  fact  that  he  is  represented 
as  angry  ( %o\ou/-tez/o<? )  :  and  while  the  details  are  different, 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  51 

and  the  upheaval  is  much  more  violent,  it  is  evident  that  the 
poet  has  the  same  tradition  in  mind  : 


i/cero  SJ  Ov\v/Ji7roi,o  piov  aeya  •  GVV  8?  erivafev 

rjepa  iraaav  vjrepQe  ^o\ou/-iez/o?  •  a\\o0e 

jSpovral  ofjLws  arepoTrya-i  nerf  etcrvTrov  •  €K  Be  icepavvol 

efe^eWro  Trorl  ^dova  •  Kaiero  S'  arjp 
aOavdroicri  &  VTTO  <f>pevas  e/jLtreae  Sel/Jia  - 

S'  erpefjie  <yvla  /cal  aQavdroov  Trep  edvr&v. 


As  the  gods  come  down  from  Olympus  and  take  part  in  the 
battle  of  the  Greeks  and  Trojans,  some  on  one  side  and  some 
on  the  other,  Zeus  goes  up  to  the  wide  heaven  borne  on  the 
winds,  Eurus  Boreas,  Zephyrus  and  Notus,  and  at  his  coming 
all  heaven  and  earth  tremble. 

Assuming  that  the  cause  of  the  upheaval  here  is  the  same  as 
in  earlier  poets,  we  may  note  the  additions  that  are  made  to  the 
conception.  Thunder  rolls  and  lightning  flashes.  The  commo- 
tion strikes  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  immortals.  But  this 
feature  we  see  too  in  Ovid  (Met.  14,  816).  Jove  has  been  ad- 
dressing Mars  and  at  the  close  of  the  speech  nods  to  give  weight 
to  his  words: 

Adnuit  omnipotens,  et  nubibus  aera  caecis 
occuluit  tonitruque  et  fulgure  terruit  orbem. 

Having  traced  the  motif  from  Homer  down,  and  noted  the 
accretions  it  has  taken  on  with  various  authors,  it  remains  for 
us  to  see  what  Statius  has  added,  that  is  peculiarly  character- 
istic of  his  manner.  To  be  sure  not  much  that  is  original 
can  be  claimed  for  his  treatment  ("  Stace  a  peu  d'invention  J71). 
But  one  stroke  is  made  which  indicates  sufficiently  the  bent  of 
the  poet's  genius: 

Atque  ea  cunctantis  Tyrii  primordia  belli 
luppiter  baud  aequo  respexit  corde  Pelasgos, 

aLegras:  Etude  sur  la  Thebai'de  de  Stace,  p.  253. 


52  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

concussitque  caput,  motu  quo  celsa  laborant 
sidera  proclainatque  adici  cervicibus  Atlas. 

The  note  of  the  Lemaire  ed.  of  Vergil  (on  Aen.  10,  115) 
says — iam  compara  tumorem  Statii  vn  Tlieb.  3,  4.  de  love  in- 
dignante.  From  this  and  other  notes  of  the  earlier  scholiasts 
it  is  evident  that  very  early  comparisons  were  made  between 
Statins  and  Vergil  in  which  the  former  suffered  greatly:  and 
some  modern  commentators  see  in  Statins'  tendency  to  exagger- 
ation and  the  seeking  of  strange  effects  in  description  only  a 
determination  to  rival  and  surpass  Ovid. 

In  his  treatment  of  this  motif  the  details  of  the  earlier  ver- 
sion are  present,  but  to  further  amplify  the  conception  the 
poet  represents  Atlas  as  crying  out  with  the  weight  that  has  been 
added  to  his  shoulders  by  the  commotion  in  heaven.  And  this 
idea  of  the  weight  of  the  gods  as  pressing  heavily  on  Atlas  is 
not  new  in  itself:  several  references  are  found  to  it,  mostly 
however  in  Ovid  and  Statius.  Vid.  Theb.  5,  429 ;  Silv.  1,  1, 
56;  Ov.  Met.  9,  273. 

But  in  this  connection  it  is  new.  Two  tendencies  on  the 
part  of  the  poet  can  be  seen  in  this — (1)  his  aptitude  for  en- 
larging on  material  that  he  finds  in  other  poets,  material  which 
is  usually  the  common  stock  of  epic  poetry,  (2)  the  peculiar 
nature  of  his  faculty  for  description,  which  places  before  the 
mind's  eye,  as  if  in  a  picture  or  work  of  sculpture,  the  object 
or  scene  under  consideration.1  Statius  seizes  a  striking  mo- 
ment in  the  scene  and  fixes  it  before  one,  thus  giving  one,  as 
it  were,  a  photographic  view.  This  is  what  he  has  done  in 
the  present  instance:  Atlas  is  caught  crying  out,  just  as  the 
heavens  seem  to  be  slipping  from  his  shoulders ;  and  we  get 
the  picture  of  the  upturned  face  remonstrating  against  the 
added  weight. 


4  See  Legras,  op.  cit.,  p.  273. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statius  53 

Theb.  8.  429. 

In  the  description  of  the  battle  that  rages  outside  the  gates 
of  Thebes  (Theb.  8,  428  ff.)  occurs  a  passage  which  is  interest- 
ing in  this  connection.  Menalcas,  a  leader  in  the  Argive  army, 
is  slain.  Statius  gives  a  description  of  his  valiant  conduct — a 
picture  that  is  exaggerated  and  rhetorical.  At  the  close  are 
two  beautiful  lines  that  recount  the  images  that  pass  before 
the  eyes  of  the  warrior  in  his  last  moments: 

dilecta  genis  morientis  oberrant 
Taygeta  et  pugnae  laudataque  pectora  matri. 

These  lines,  according  to  the  Lemaire  ed.  of  Vergil  and  all 
the  later  commentators,  are  an  imitation  of  A  en.  10,  782.  The 
Lemaire  note  is — '  quidquid  enim  in  vita  carissimum  habuimus, 
redire  nobis  solet  in  mentem  quum  morimur.'  It  will  be  in- 
structive to  examine  the  Vergil  passage,  and  see  what  Statius 
owes  to  it  as  well  as  what  he  has  added  that  is  characteristic 
of  his  own  genius : 

ilia  volans  clipeo  est  excussa  proculque 
egregium  Antoren  latus  inter  et  ilia  ngit, 
Herculis  Antoren  comitem,  qui  missus  ab  Argis 
haeserat  Euandro,  atque  Itala  consederat  urbe. 
sternitur  infelix  alieno  vulnere,  caelumque 
aspicit,  et  dulces  moriens  reminiscitur  Argos. 

After  Turnus,  through  Juno's  device,  is  forced  to  voyage  to 
Ardea,  Mezentius  assumes  command  of  the  forces  of  the  Rutuli, 
and  slaughters  many  of  the  Teucri.  Antores  falls  from  a  shaft 
hurled  by  the  hand  of  Mezentius.  The  passage  cited  is  a  des- 
cription of  the  manner  of  his  death. 

Here  then  is  seen  the  original  of  the  beautiful  touch  in 
Statius.  In  Vergil's  description  the  dying  warrior  looks  up 
to  heaven  as  if  loth  to  leave  the  light;  and  then  before  his 
mind  passes  his  beloved  Argos  the  home  of  his  childhood. 
But  this  passage  was  discussed  by  ancient  commentators,  and 


54  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

its  meaning  does  not  seem  to  have  been  unanimously  agreed 
upon.  A  discussion  of  it  will  bear  directly  on  our  subject. 

Servius'  note  on  line  781,  '  caelumque  aspicit,7  is  as  follows: 
'  ut  (4,  691)  alto  quaesivit  caelo  lucem  item  (10,  899)  hausit 
caelum  mentemque  recepit  :  naturaliter  enim  morientes  cupiunt 
satiari  extremo  lucis  aspectu/  But  Wagner  expresses  a  doubt 
as  to  Servius'  interpretation  in  '  Naturaliter  enim  ....  as- 
pectu.' He  continues  —  '  ego  nescio  an  ob  ea,  quae  subiiciuntur 
a  poeta,  illud  "  caelumque  adspicit  "  rectius  it  a  accipias  ut 
Antores  caeli  fatorumque  crudelitatem  tacite  incusare  signi- 
ficetur;  Eel.  5,  23,  atque  deos  atque  astra  vocat  crudelia  mater.' 
In  line  with  this  latter  interpretation  Forbiger  adds  '  Constat 
enim  quam  miserum  veteribus  visum  sit  in  aliena  terra  mori.' 
And  one  might  add  that  force  is  given  to  Wagner's  suggestion 
by  the  picture  of  his  native  Argos  that  immediately  comes  up 
before  the  mind  of  the  dying  man  :  though  Servius'  explanation 
is  less  subtle  and  hence  under  the  circumstances  to  be  preferred  ; 
and  is  besides  paralleled  in  the  passages  cited. 

The  parallels  suggested  by  Servius  are  —  A  en.  4,  691,  on  the 
death  of  Dido:  and  Aen.  10,  899,  on  the  death  of  Mezentius. 

As  further  illustrations  of  the  phenomenon  Cerda,  the  com- 
mentator on  Vergil,  cites  Ennius  Ann.  (18,  15  M.)  '  Semi- 
animesque  micant  oculi,  lucemque  requirunt  ?  —  and  Euripides 
Heracles  (563)  : 

ov  ptyeQ*  AiSov  rdaBe  7re/3£/3oXa9  KO/JLTJ^ 
/ecu  (&>?  avaj3\eecr6e  TOV  Karco  CTKOTOV. 


But  we  are  concerned  more  especially  with  the  other  part 
of  the  description  (dulces  moriens  reminiscitur  Argos)  in  mak- 
ing a  comparison  with  the  Statins  passage.  Here  Servius' 
note  is  —  '  inter  physica  signa  moriturorum  ,etiam  hoc  legitur, 
patriae  aspectum  desiderare  perituros,  ut  (4,  468)  et  Tyrios 
deserta  quaerere.  an  ex  facti  poenitentia?  qui  ad  patriam  re- 
dire  contempserat.'  I  do  not  agree  with  Servius  as  to  the 
cause.  The  note  in  the  Lemaire  ed.  (vid.  sup.)  is  more  to 
the  point. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  55 

Compare  with  this  the  Statins  passage  mentioned  above: 

Principium  pugnae  turmas  Asopius  Hypseus 
Oebalias  (namque  hae  magnum  et  gentile  tumentes 
Euboicum  duris  rumpunt  umbonibus  agmen) 
reppulit  erepto  cimei  due-tore  Menalca. 
hie  et  mente  Lacon,  crudi  torrentis  alumnus 
(nee  turpavit  avos)  hastam  ultra  pectus  euntem, 
ne  pudor  in  tergo,  per  et  ossa  et  viscera  retro 
extrahit  atque  hosti  dextra  labente  remittit 
sanenrineam:  dilecta  genis  morientis  oberrant 

O  O 

Taygeta  et  pugnae  laudataque  pectora  matri. 

The  reading  '  pectora'  in  1.  437  is  difficult:  and  until  one 
is  acquainted  with  Statins'  style  he  would  be  inclined  to  say 
that  it  is  too  obscure.  On  account  of  this  difficulty  the  text 
seems  to  have  been  tampered  with.  The  Oxford  text  gives 
*  pectora  '  which  I  follow :  the  others  give  '  verbera.'  Lactan- 
tius  followed  this  latter,  and  explained  the  reading  thus :  *  lau- 
dataque verbera  matri/  Taurica  quam  Orestes  de  Scythia  trans- 
tulit:  consueverat  enim  humano  cruore  placari.  cuius  cum 
simulacrum  in  Laconiam  delatum  fuisset,  ne  quod  piaculum 
nasceretur  intermissione  solemnis  saqfrificii  neve  crudelitati 
Graeciae  populus  oboediret,  inventum  est  ut  inter  se  impuberes 
pueri  de  sustinendis  verberibus  contenderent  ac  se  in  hanc  pa- 
tientiam  provocarent,  et  super  aram  Dianae  impositi  flagellis 
verberabantur  tarn  diu,  donee  ex  humano  corpore  sanguis  flu- 
eret,  qui  instar  esset  sacrificii.  hi  autem  pueri  appellabantur 
ftco/Aovi/cai,.  So  mucli  for  the  explanation  of  the  reading  and 
the  account  of  the  ceremony. 

But  why  adopt  the  reading  i  pectora  '  ?  In  accordance  with 
his  view  of  the  MSS.,  Garrod  follows  P.  He  says — 'suspicor 
igitur  nos  in  ea  recensione  quam  P  offert  Sevrepas  fypovriSas 
Statii  habere:  quas  ille  fortasse  vivus  non  divulgavit  sed  in 
avroypdcfrois  reliquit '  (Praefatio  to  the  Oxford  edition,  p.  4). 

Without  discussing  this  theory  of  the  MS.  and  the  relation 
of  P  to  the  others  one  may  say  that,  when  the  reference  in  the 


56  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

passage  is  understood,  '  laudataque  pectora  matri '  seems  a  bet- 
ter reading  than  '  laudataque  verbera  matri.'  It  is  more  in 
keeping  with  the  context,  i  ne  pudor  in  tergo '  etc, :  Statins 
dwells  particularly  on  the  discipline  in  endurance  that  the 
Spartan  youths  submitted  to  and  which  became  second  nature 
to  them.  The  reading  i  verbera '  probably  crept  in  as  an  expla- 
nation of  '  pectora.7 

Hence  Vergil's  description  of  the  image  that  comes  up  before 
the  dying  man  is  much  more  simple  than  that  in  the  Statins 
passage.  In  the  former,  it  is  the  thought  of  home  and  lone- 
liness only — a  universal  feeling :  in  Statius,  however,  associated 
with  the  thought  of  home  is  all  that  home  suggests — the  contests 
by  the  Eurotas  that  hardened  the  spirit  of  the  youthful  Spartan 
(see  Lactantius,  note  on  1.  432)  and  the  rites  of  Diana  per- 
formed in  the  presence  of  parents,  and  intended  as  a  demon- 
stration of  physical  courage.  These  details  Statius  cannot  leave 
out.  His  excessive  love  for  description  and  the  picturesque 
makes  him  analyse  the  images  that  pass  before  the  dying  war- 
rior's eyes — and  there  they  are  presented  to  us  as  if  on  canvas. 
To  Vergil  the  pathos  of  the  situation  appealed:  Statius  saw 
in  it  also  an  opportunity  for  picture  drawing. 


Theb.  8.  745. 

An  intensely  dramatic  description  of  the  death  of  Tydeus  is 
given  in  the  eighth  book  of  the  Thebaid.  Tydeus  falls  mor- 
tally wounded  by  a  shaft  from  the  hand  of  Melanippus:  and 
as  he  falls  he  summons  his  failing  strength  and  with  a  last 
effort  hurls  a  javelin  at  Melanippus.  The  weapon  hits  the 
mark.  As  a  last  request  the  dying  Tydeus  craves  the  body 
of  the  man  who  has  caused  his  death  that  he  may  sate  his 
hunger  for  revenge  by  a  last  look  upon  it.  Capaneus  volunteers 
to  gratify  his  wish : 

moti  omnes,  sed  primus  abit  primusque  repertum 
Astaciden  medio  Capaneus  e  pulvere  tollit 
spirantem  laevaque  super  cervice  reportat, 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  57 

terga  cruentantem  concuss!  vulneris  unda: 
qualis  ab  Arcadio  rediit  Tirynthius  antro 
captivumque  suem  clamantibus  intulit  Argis. 

A  vivid  and  gruesome  picture,  surpassed  in  gruesomeness 
only  by  the  succeeding  description  of  Tydeus'  conduct,  is  given 
of  Capaneus  returning  to  Tydeus  with  his  enemy's  body.  As 
he  bears  on  his  left  shoulder  the  body  of  Melanippus  still  show- 
ing signs  of  life,  the  blood  from  the  wound  gushes  forth  and 
pours  down  his  back.  Without  pursuing  the  description  fur- 
ther, the  poet  turns  and  gives  as  a  comparison  the  picture  of 
Heracles  returning  to  Argos  with  the  lifeless  body  of  the  Ery- 
manthian  boar  thrown  over  his  shoulder.  At  once  one  is  re- 
minded of  the  numerous  representations  of  that  scene.  Even 
the  horror  of  the  situation  does  not  prevent  Statius  from  re- 
producing pictures — in  fact  the  description  of  Capaneus  carry- 
ing the  body  serves  only  as  a  suggestion  for  the  conventional 
motif  that  was  represented  on  so  many  paintings  and  vases. 
Again  the  poet  leaves  the  reader  with  the  impression  of  a 
familiar  picture,  and  not  with  that  of  his  own  description. 


Theb.  9,  319. 

In  Book  9  there  is  a  delightful  picture  of  the  Theban  youth 
Crenaeus  in  his  native  element,  the  river  Ismenus.  Crenaeus 
was  the  son  of  the  nymph  Ismenis  and  Faunus,  and  the  grand- 
son of  the  river  Ismenus.  Craving  a  conflict  with  the  Argive 
warrior  Hippomedon  the  lad  seeks  his  native  element  in  which 
to  encounter  him,  and  in  which  he  believes  himself  immortal. 
The  description  runs  as  follows : 

Gaudebat  Fauno  nymphaque  Ismenide  natus 
maternis  bellare  tener  Crenaeus  in  undis, 
Crenaeus,  cui  prima  dies  in  gurgite  fido 
et  natale  vadum  et  virides  cunabula  ripae. 
ergo  ratus  nihil  Elysias  ibi  posse  sorores 
laetus  adulantem  nunc  hoc  nunc  margine  ab  illo 


58  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

transit  avum,  levat  unda  gradus,  seu  defluus  ille, 
sive  obliquus  eat;  nee  cum  subit  obvius,  ullas 
stagna  dedere  moras  pariterque  revertitur  amnis. 
non  Anthedonii  tegit  hospitis  inguina  pontus 
blandior,  aestivo  nee  se  magis  aequore  Triton 
exserit,  aut  carae  festinus  ad  oscula  matris 
cum  remeat  tardumque  ferit  delphina  Palaemon. 
arma  decent  umeros,  clipeusque  insignis  et  auro 
lucidus  Aoniae  caelatur  origine  gentis. 

The  original  of  this  conception  of  Crenaeus,  entrusting  him- 
self to  the  stream  in  time  of  danger  was  undoubtedly  Vergil 
(Aen.  9.  815).  Turnus  after  his  fight  with  the  followers  of 
Ascanius  before  the  Trojan  encampment  leaps  into  the  Tiber 
to  remove  the  marks  of  the  long-continued  encounter.  Vergil 
thus  describes  him : 

Turn  demum  praeceps  saltu  s,ese  omnibus  armis 
in  fluvium  dedit:  ille  suo  cum  gurgite  fiavo 
accepit  venientem  ac  mollibus  extulit  undis 
et  laetum  sociis  abluta  caede  remisit. 

Statius'  description  opens  with  a  picture  of  the  boy  as  he  was 
wont  to  play  in  the  stream  and  sleep  on  its  banks  (11.  321, 
322).  And  now  as  Crenaeus  plunges  in  to  engage  Hippomedon 
in  battle,  the  water  plays  about  him,  lapping  his  body  lovingly 
(note  the  strange  use  of  '  adulantem  ')  and  he  is  borne  up  by  it, 
whether  he  swims  across  current  or  goes  down  with  the  stream. 
Indeed,  if  he  turns  to  swim  upstream,  the  river  turns  its  course 
and  goes  with  him.  The  poet  now  introduces  comparisons — 
first,  with  Glaucus,  the  fisherman  who  had  been  transformed 
into  a  creature  half  man,  half  fish:  next,  with  Triton,  as  he 
rises  from  the  summer  sea:  and  then,  with  Palaemon,  whose 
native  element  too  is  the  water ;  who  rides  about  on  his  dolphin, 
coming  to  the  shore  repeatedly  to  receive  his  fond  mother's 
caresses,  and  whipping  his  slow-moving  dolphin. 

The  poet  thus  has  passed  from  the  natural  description  of 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  59 

the  object  before  his  eyes,  and  drawn  a  succession  of  conven- 
tional pictures,  all  beautiful  in  themselves,  but  conventional  and 
stereotyped  nevertheless.  Immediately  their  types  in  art  are 
suggested  —  particularly  that  of  Palaemon  and  his  mother, 
which  has  been  treated  eleswhere  in  this  thesis.  Nothing,  it 
seems  to  me,  could  show  more  clearly  the  tendency  of  Statius 
towards  the  '  plastic '  in  his  style.  But  he  goes  still  further. 
After  giving  this  series  of  pictures  to  arrest  the  eye  in  successive 
moments,  he  passes  to  a  detailed  description  of  Crenaeus  as 
he  swam  in  the  river,  and  makes  of  him  a  '  work  of  art/  noting 
the  fit  of  the  armour  on  his  shoulders,  and  recounting  the  scenes 
embossed  on  his  shield  of  gold.  His  treatment  of  these  scenes 
upon  the  shield  does  not  concern  us  here:  our  task  at  present 
is  to  show  the  influence  of  art  on  his  description,  particularly 
where  it  may  be  unconscious  in  the  poet:  to  show  that  the 
'  plastic  ?  style  was  natural  to  him,  and  reflected  a  tendency 
of  the  age  in  which  he  worked. 


Theb.  9.  399. 

The  treatment  of  Ismenis  sorrowing  for  the  death  of  her 
son  Crenaeus  affords  another  opportunity  of  observing  the  qual- 
ity of  the  poet's  genius.  The  youth  trusting  too  much  to  the 
power  of  the  river-god,  his  grandsire,  had  drawn  Hippomedon 
to  a  conflict  in  the  river,  and  had  perished  in  spite  of  all  the 
god  could  do  on  his  side.  In  words  of  bitter  reproach  against 
her  father  Ismenis  gives  vent  to  her  sorrow, — that  a  mere  mor- 
tal should  destroy  the  life  of  one  who  had  a  god  and  goddess 
for  his  parents.  Then  she  breaks  out  into  wild  lamentation, 
beating  her  breast  all  the  while;  and  the  river  nymphs  re-echo 
her  wailing: 

his  miscet  planctus  multumque  indigna  cruentat 
pectora,  caeruleae  referunt  1  amenta  sorores : 
qualiter  Isthmiaco  nondum  Nereida  portu 
Leucothean  planxisse  ferunt,  dum  pectore  anhelo 
frigidus  in  matrem  saevum  mare  respuit  infans. 


60  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Several  parallels  to  the  lamentation  of  Ismenis  suggest  them- 
selves, but  the  parallel  that  strikes  one  first,  as  he  reads  the 
story  of  Crenaeus,  is  the  story  of  Hylas,  and  Heracles'  grief 
for  him,  given  in  Ap.  Rh.  1.  1205-1360,1  Theocritus  13,  Pro- 
pertius  1,  20,  and  Valerius  Maccus  3,  593  if.  Another  par- 
allel is  the  Orpheus  myth  in  Georg.  4,  453-527.  These  may 
be  made  use  of  as  a  standard  of  comparison  for  Statius'  treat- 
ment of  a  story  that  presents  possibilities  of  similar  treatment. 

What  Statius  has  added  may  be  seen  best  by  putting  beside 
the  passage  cited  the  versions  of  the  story  as  given  by  the 
poets  mentioned  above.  In  the  Theocritus  version  Heracles  is 
represented  as  starting  out  to  search  for  the  boy,  thinking  that 
because  he  is  tardy  about  returning  to  the  ship  some  evil  must 
have  befallen  him.  In  a  few  words  Theocritus  tells  of  the 
hero's  grief  and  his  attempts  to  find  the  missing  boy  : 


T/>i<?  fAev  t"T\av  avaev,  ocrov  ftapvs  tfpvye  \CUJJLOS  • 
rpls  &  ap'  6  Trais  vTrd/covaev  •  apcua  £'  tvcero  cjxova 
•  Trapeaiv  8e  fjud\a  o-%€$bv  el'Sero 


Here  appears  the  motif  of  the  answer  to  his  cry,  coming  in 
this  case  from  the  youth  as  he  lay  in  the  lap  of  the  fountain 
nymph  at  the  bottom  of  the  spring.  In  the  later  versions  this 
sorrowing  cry  is  re-echoed  by  the  river-banks  or  nymphs. 

Compare  with  this  a  similar  passage  in  Vergil  (Georg.  4, 
523),  the  Orpheus  myth.  Orpheus'  body  is  dismembered  by 
the  Thracian  Bacchantes  and  his  head  is  carried  down  the 
Hebrus  : 

Turn  quoque  marmorea  caput  a  cervice  revulsum 
gurgite  quum  medio  portans  Oeagrius  Hebrus 
volveret,  '  Eurydicen  7  vox  ipsa  et  frigida  lingua, 
'  ah  miseram  Eurydicen  !  '  anima  f  ugiente  vocabat  ; 
'  Eurydicen  '  toto  referebant  flumine  ripae. 

aThe  version  of  Apollonius  is  slightly  different  from  the  later  adapta- 
tions. The  more  sentimental  form  of  Theocritus  and  Propertius  is 
followed  by  Valerius  Flaccus  and  Statius. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  61 

Here  the  river-banks  re-echo  Orpheus'  cry  of  grief.  In  the 
Propertius  passage  Hercules  replies  to  the  frightened  cry  of 
Hylas  as  he  is  snatched  into  the  fountain's  depths  by  the 
nymphs : 

prolapsum  leviter  facili  traxere  liquore: 
turn  sonitum  rapto  corpore  fecit  Hylas. 
cui  procul  Alcides  iterat  responsa:  sed  illi 
nomen  ab  extremis  fontibus  aura  refert 

(Prop.  1,  20,  47). 

Valerius  Flaccus  following  Apollonius  of  Rhodes  gives  a 
somewhat  lengthy  account  of  the  loss  of  Hylas  and  Hercules' 
vain  search  for  him.  He  picks  up  the  motif  of  Vergil's  i  Or- 
pheus '  passage,  and  represents  the  woods  as  answering  his  sor- 
rowful lament.  He  goes  further  yet,  and  personifies  the  echo 
(cert at  imago)  and  makes  it  answer  the  hero  from  all  directions 
(vaga)  : 

volat  ordine  nullo 

cuncta  petens;  nunc  ad  ripas  deiectaque  saxis 
numina,  nunc  totas  nemorum  procurrit  ad  umbras, 
rursus  Hylan  et  rursus  Hylan  per  longa  reclamat 
avia :  responsant  silvae  et  vaga  certat  imago. 

(Arg.  3.  593). 

Let  us  see  then  what  our  poet  has  done  with  a  similar  situ- 
ation. After  pouring  out  the  anger  of  her  soul  against  her 
father  Ismenus,  the  nymph  Ismenis  stands  by  the  bank  of  the 
stream  wildly  beating  her  breast  and  uttering  loud  lamentations 
over  the  loss  of  her  son.  Her  wailing  is  re-echoed  by  the 
nymphs  of  the  river.  Thus  far  Statius  keeps  within  the  tra- 
ditional manner  of  presenting  this  situation,  and  his  treatment 
is  as  natural  as  that  of  the  others.  But  again  his  subject  takes 
a  statue-form.  Ismenis,  as  she  stands  on  the  bank  of  the 
Ismenus,  is  like  another,  a  traditional,  grief-stricken  mother, 
sorrowing  for  her  child.  Hence  his  description  changes  over 
to  the  conventional  picture  of  Leucothoe  as  she  stood  by  the  Gulf 


62  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

of  Corinth,  in  wild  grief  for  her  son  whom  she  had  thrown  into 
the  sea.  The  touch  of  real  feeling  is  gone,  and  the  description 
has  become  stereotyped.  Our  mind  is  taken  from  Ismenis  and 
our  eye  directed  to  a  statue. 


Theb.  9.  678. 

A  further  illustration  of  this  peculiarity  of  Statius'  style 
is  seen  in  the  incident  recorded  in  Bk.  9,  678  if.  The  rival 
Argive  and  Theban  armies  are  drawn  up  in  the  plain  before 
Thebes.  The  leaders  on  both  sides  have  been  slain,  but  the 
opposing  armies  are  all  the  more  thirsty  for  each  other's  blood. 
At  this  point  Diana  appears,  gliding  down  through  the  air, 
and  takes  up  her  position  on  Mt.  Cithaeron.  At  her  approach 
the  hills  recognize  her  and  the  woods  tremble  before  her  as  one 
whom  they  had  occasion  to  fear  of  old : 

cum  lapsa  per  auras 
vertice  Dircaei  velox  Latonia  rnontis 
astitit ;  agnoscunt  colles  notamque  tremescit 
silva  deam,  saevis  ubi  quondam  exserta  sagittis 
fecundam  lasso  Nioben  consumpserat  arcu. 

Two  features  of  this  description  strike  the  student  of  Statius. 
The  first  is  the  extension  of  the  motif  that  is  common  enough 
in  Latin  and  Greek  poetry,  namely,  that  of  the  response  in 
inanimate  nature  to  the  feeling  of  the  presence  of  a  god,  whether 
this  response  is  indicated  by  the  emotion  of  fear  or  its  opposite  l 
— the  emotion  of  awe  or  whatever  it  may  be:  the  second  is  his 
manner  of  dealing  with  the  description  of  Diana,  as  she  stands 
on  Mt.  Cithaeron,  surveying  the  field  of  battle. 

The  motif  referred  to  may  be  illustrated  by  a  passage  from 
Vergil  (Aen.  6,  2565.).  Here  the  approach  of  Hecate  as  she 
comes  up  from  the  under  world  is  signalised  by  a  sympathetic 
movement  on  the  part  of  nature: 

*Aen.,  1,  155. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  63 

ecce  autem,  primi  sub  lumina  soils  et  ortus, 
sub  pedibus  mugire  solum,  et  iuga  coepta  mover! 
silvarum,  visaeque  canes  ululare  per  umbram, 
adventante  dea. 

The  early  commentators  on  Vergil  note  that  this  representa- 
tion of  a  commotion  in  nature  at  the  advent  of  a  god  or  demi- 
god or  fury  was  the  product  of  the  Alexandrian  writers:  and 
the  Elzv.  ed.  gives  a  note  of  Taubmann  to  A  en.  3.  90:  (  Haec 
deum  praesentem  esse  indicio  erant:  et  turn  vera  reddebantur 
oracula,  sicut,  eo  absente,  falsa.'  And  as  an  illustration,  on 
the  negative  side,  the  commentator  cites  Lucan  Phars.  5,  152, 
which  refers  to  Phoebas,  the  priestess  of  Apollo: 

non  rupta  trementi 

verba  sono  nee  vox  antri  complere  capacis 
sufficiens  spatium  nulloque  horrore  comarum 
excussae  laurus  immotaque  limina  templi 
securumque  nemus  veritam  se  credere  Phoebo 
prodiderant  .... 

This  passage,  says  the  commentator,  has  for  its  source  Calli- 
machus,  Hymn  to  Apollo,  5.  1  ff. : 

olov  6  TWTTo'XXwi/o?  etretVaro  Sdcfrvivos  opTrrj^ 

old  8'   6\OV  TO  /Ji€\aOpOV 

With  the  Vergil  passage  cited  above  compare  also  Eclogue 
4,  50,51: 

aspice  convexo  nutantem  pondere  mundum 
terrasque  tractusque  maris  caelumque  profundum. 

On  this  passage  C.  S.  Jerram  says — '  All  nature  is  moved  and 
trembles  at  the  advent  of  the  deity.  Compare  Ps.  68,  8  and 
114.  7:  also  Aen.  3.  90,  etc.,  where  the  temple  and  its  environs 
shake  at  Apollo's  coming.' 

With  Jerram's  note  compare  that  of  Deuticke  referring:  to 
the  same  Eclogue  (50.  51) — <Wie  A.  3,  90  und  6,  256  beim 


64  The   Influence   of   Art   on  Description 

Erscheinen  einer  Gottheit  die  Erde  bebt,  so  lasst  V.  hier  die 
ganze  Welt  vor  dem  erwarteten  Erstling  erschauern.  Ygl.  Sib. 
3,  675  :  yala  Se  Trayyevereipa  aakevaerai  TJ/nao-i  Keivot,<$  X€1P^  ^7r> 
aOavdroio  ....  /cat  Tracra  6d\a(r<Ta  $pi%ei  VTT  aOavdroio 
TTpoaaiTTOV  teal  (j)d/3os  earai.' 

A  better  example,  however,  is  furnished  by  Ap.  Eh.  (Arg. 
3,  1212  if.)  where  Jason  calls  upon  Hecate  to  come  up  from 
Hades  and  attend  his  sacrifice.  The  goddess  approaches,  at- 
tended by  all  the  horrors  that  surround  her  in  the  world  below, 
and  Apollonius  thus  describes  her: 

77  8'  aiovcra 


Ipols  AloroviSao  •  Treptf;  $e  fjuv  eo-re<f)dv(t)VTo 
eoi  Spvivouri  pera  TrrdpBoio-i 
8'  aireipecnov  Sat'Scov  creXa?  •  a/j,(j)l  8e 
v\a/crj  ^OoviOL  KVV&  e<f>0eyryovTO  . 
Triorea  5'  er/oe/ie  Trdvra  Kara  o"ri(3ov  '  at  8'  b\6\v%av 
eXeiovdfJLOi,  Troraft^t^e?,  at  Trepl 


As  the  Eury  passes  over  the  earth  all  the  meadows  tremble 
along  her  pathway  (/cara  crrtftov)  and  the  nymphs  of  the  streams 
cry  out.  Compare  Aen.  4,  490,  where  Anna  is  explaining  to 
Dido  the  portents  by  which  she  will  recognise  the  approach  of 
the  Eury  : 

mugire  videbis 
sub  pedibus  terram,  et  descendere  montibus  ornos. 

Ovid  (Met.  4,  486  ff.),  describing  Tisiphone  as  she  comes 
up  from  Hades  to  enflame  Athamas,  introduces  the  motif: 

postes  tremuisse  feruntur 
Aeolii,  pallorque  fores  infecit  Avernus 
Solque  locum  fugit  .  .  . 

and  Ruperti  in  a  note  on  Sil.  Ital.  2,  543  gives  it  as  his  opinion 
that  his  poet  must  have  had  the  Ovid  passage  in  mind  while 
describing  his  Eury  as  she  attacked  Carthage  : 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statius  65 

sic  voce  instinmlans  dextra  Dea  concita  saevam 
Eumenida  incussit  muris,  tremuitque  repente 
mons  circum  et  gravior  sonuit  per  litora  fhictus. 

However,  it  seems  more  natural  when  we  consider  the  great 
extent  to  which  Silius  was  a  borrower  from  Vergil,  and  note 
the  similarity  in  phrase,  to  say  rather  that  he  had  in  mind 
Aen.  3,  90: 

vix  ea  fatus  eram:  tremere  omnia  visa  repente, 
liminaque  laurusque  dei ;  totusque  moveri 
mons  circum,  et  mugire  adytis  cortina  reclusis. 

To  be  sure,  the  occasion  is  similar  to  that  in  the  Ovid  passage, 
but  the  description  is  Vergilian. 

Statius  again  (Tlfieb.  1,  88)  has  a  passage  that  is  parallel  to 
these,  yet  varied  after  his  usual  manner.  Tisiphone  comes  up 
from  Tartarus  on  her  fell  mission  to  the  brothers  Eteocles  and 
Polynices :  and  as  she  approaches  horror  seizes  upon  nature : 

sensit  adesse  dies,  piceo  nox  obvia  nimbo 
lucentes  turbavit  equos:  procul  arduus  Atlas 
horruit  et  dubia  caelum  cervice  remisit. 

This  then,  I  take  it,  is  the  origin  of  the  motif  in  the  Diana 
passage  (cited  above).  It  came  into  Greek  literature  compara- 
tively late,  as  we  have  seen.  Of  all  the  many  visits  that  Iris 
makes  to  earth  in  the  Iliad,  none  are  attended  by  any  show  of 
fear  or  sympathy  on  the  part  of  inanimate  nature.  Nor, 
indeed,  are  any  of  the  other  gods  greeted  with  these  tokens  of 
fear.  Sometimes  the  hills  shake  and  the  forests  wave  beneath 
them,  but  it  is  from  the  motion  of  their  feet  as  they  pass  over. 
In  Euripides  (Here.  Fur.  822  ff.)  Lyssa  is  sent  by  Juno  upon 
Heracles,  and  a  great  commotion  ensues  upon  her  approach 
but  it  is  a  commotion  among  the  attendants. 

Let  us  see  then  in  what  respect  Statius  alters  this  bit  of  tradi- 
tional epic  material.  As  Diana  comes  down  through  the  air 
and  settles  on  Mt.  Cithaeron,  the  hills  recognize  her  and  trem- 


66  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

ble,  presumably  from  fear  of  what  she  may  do.  In  the  Apollo- 
nius  passage  (cited  above)  the  meadows  and  nymphs  tremble 
also,  undoubtedly,  there,  because  of  the  horrors  by  which  the 
Fury  was  accompanied.  Here,  however,  Statius  makes  the 
hills  and  woods  remember  the  goddess  and  the  cruel  deeds  she 
had  once  performed  on  that  very  spot.  This  gives  him  his 
opportunity  to  introduce  an  allusion  to  Niobe  and  the  slaughter 
of  her  children,  and  to  draw  a  picture  of  the  goddess  as  she 
stood  there  on  the  mountain-top. 

This  device  of  endowing  nature  with  more  or  less  reasoning 
power  is  new,  and  represents  a  peculiar  characteristic  of  Sta- 
tius. Much  the  same  phenomenon  is  seen  in  Valerius  Flaccus 
(Arg.  3,  584).  Here  Hercules,  realising  that  Hylas  is  lost, 
starts  up  through  the  forests  to  search  for  him,  and  nature 
catching  the  spirit  of  sorrow  and  anger  in  the  hero,  and  feeling 
somehow  a  share  of  guilt  (conscia  1)  for  the  loss  of  the  boy,  is 
terrified  as  to  what  outrages  he  may  commit: 

pavet  omnis  conscia  late 
silva,  pavent  montes,  luctu  succensus  acerbo 
quid  struat  Alcides,  tantaque  quid  apparet  ira. 

But  it  is  the  second  feature  of  Statius'  description  that 
claims  particular  attention: 

saevis  ubi  quondam  exserta  sagittis 
fecundam  lasso  Nioben  consumpserat  arcu. 

The  hills  and  woods  tremble  when  they  behold  the  goddess  as 
they  once  beheld  her  after  she  had  wearied  herself  with  the 
slaughter  of  Niobe's  children.  It  appears  as  if  Statius  had  in 
mind  a  passage  of  Ovid  (Met.  6,  216)  which  describes  Apollo 
and  Diana  coming  down  to  Citha3ron  to  avenge  themselves  on 

1  Burmann  favors  this  interpretation  of  '  conscia.'  His  note  on  (  conscia 
silva '  is  as  follows — '  Raptus  scilicet  Hylae.  Male  Pius,  quasi  refugium 
se  esse  et  auctorem  tabanorum  sciret,  vel  consciam,  pallidam  ab  eventu 
explicat. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  67 

Niobe  for  her  presumption.  The  phrase  '  per  aera  lapsu ' 
would  suggest  that  at  least: 

dixit  idem  Phoebe,  celerique  per  aera  lapsu 
contigerant  tecti  Cadmeida  nubibus  arcem. 

At  any  rate  Statins  has  reproduced,  in  the  form  of  a  statue  as 
it  were,  the  image  of  Diana  as  she  appeared  to  the  hills  and 
woods  when  that  memorable  event  took  place.  His  description 
seems  to  have  passed  naturally  into  the  description  of  a  draped 
female  statue,  and  the  introduction  of  the  allusion  seems  to 
have  been  made  for  the  sole  purpose  of  giving  this  effect.  De- 
tails of  pose  and  costume  are  given — the  bow  hangs  by  her  side, 
wearied  with  slaughter,  the  robe  is  thrown  back  from  the  breast 
(exserta),  as  it  had  been  arranged  to  allow  free  use  of  the  bow. 


Theb.  10.  84. 

In  his  description  of  the  Palace  of  Sleep  (Theb.  10.  84  ff.) 
may  be  seen  a  further  illustration  of  this  tendency  of  Statius 
to  the  i  plastic ?  in  description.  Ovid  is  for  the  most  part 
his  source,  though  some  features  he  gets  from  Vergil,  and  some 
from  Lucan,  while  he  himself  adds  a  few  new  details.  A  com- 
parison with  Ovid,  how,ever,  will  show  outstanding  differences 
of  style.  Of  course,  if  the  influence  of  art  were  apparent 
anywhere  in  a  poet's  description  it  would  be  seen  here,  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  enters  into  details  of  architecture  and  con- 
struction, in  the  tendency  to  overdo  minute  description  of  or- 
nament, statuary,  etc. 

1.  84.     Stat  super  occiduae  nebulosa  cubilia  noctis 


1.  106.  hae  species:  ipse  autem  umentia  subter 

antra  soporifero  stipatos  flore  tapetas 
incubat:  exhalant  vestes  et  corpore  pigro 
strata  calent,  supraque  torum  niger  efflat  anhelo 
ore  vapor ;  manus  haec  f usos  a  tempore  laevo 


68  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

sustentat  crines,  haec  cornu  oblita  remisit. 
adsunt  innumero  circum  vaga  Somnia  vultu, 
vera  simul  falsis  permixtaque  *flumina  flammis* 
noctis  opaca  colors,  trabibusque  aut  postibus  haerent, 
aut  tellure  iacent.  tennis  qua  circuit  aulam 
invalidusque  nitor,  primosque  hortantia  somnos 
languida  succiduis  exspirant  lumina  flammis. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  and  that  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
treatment  of  this  example  results  may  be  more  easily  sum- 
marised, let  us  note  the  outstanding  features  in  Statins'  des- 
cription. The  palace  of  the  god  is  situated  above  the  cloudy 
beds  of  western  night  (note  that  in  the  various  authors  different 
places  are  assigned  as  the  abode  of  sleep;  for  an  explanation 
of  Lemnos  as  the  home  of  sleep  see  Leaf's  note  on  Iliad  14, 
225).  Here  in  a  cave  that  extends  far  back  beneath  a  moun- 
tain the  god  has  established  his  Penates.  On  the  threshold  of 
the  Palace,  Quiet  and  Forgetfulness  in  statue-like  form  keep 
watch  in  company  with  sleepy-faced  Sloth:  in  the  vestibule 
sit  Idleness  and  Silences  with  pinions  pressed  close  to  their 
side:  they  drive  the  winds  away,  and  keep  them  from  stirring 
the  branches,  and  hush  the  note  of  birds.  Around  this  palace, 
though  the  waves  beat  against  the  shore,  there  is  no  sound  from 
the  sea,  no  noise  in  the  air.  The  river  lies  quiet  within  its 
rocky  bed.  Black  herds  of  cattle  roam  all  about;  and  as  they 
lie  down  the  grass  beneath  them  withers. 

Within  the  palace  are  numerous  representations  of  Sleep  in 
relief  work.1  First,  he  is  shown  lying  down  with  Pleasure  by 
his  side — in  another  quarter  Toil  reclines  with  him — and  in 
another  Bacchus  or  Love  shares  his  couch — or  again  his  com- 
panion is  Death,  his  gloomy  visage  seen  by  no  one.  Farther 
within  the  palace  the  god  himself  reclines  on  carpets  steeped 
in  the  juice  of  sleep-producing  flowers.  Warm  steam  rises 
from  his  body,  and  black  vapor  issues  from  his  puffing  nostrils. 
Over  the  left  hand  falls  the  hair  that  hangs  from  his  left 

1  See  Spence,  Polymetis,  p.  265. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  69 

temple — from  the  right  hand  he  has  let  slip  his  horn  in  forget- 
fulness.  All  about  him  are  wandering  Dreams  of  diverse  fea_- 
tures.  These  lean  up  against  the  pillars  or  recline  upon  the 
ground.  A  thin  rare  light  pervades  the  place,  a  light  whose 
very  dimness  invites  sleep. 

As  noted  above  Statius'  description  is  modelled  after  that  of 
Ovid  (Met.  11,  592  ff.)  : 

592  Est  prope  Cimmerios  longo  spelunca  recessu, 
mons  cavus,  ignavi  domus  et  penetralia  Somni, 
quo  numquam  radiis  oriens,  mediusve,  cadensve 
Phoebus  adire  potest.  .  .  . 

610  at  medio  torus  est  ebeno  sublimis  in  antro, 
plumeus,  atricolor,  pullo  velamine  tectus, 
quo  cubat  ipse  deus  membris  languors  solutis. 
hunc  circa  passim  varias  imitantia  formas 
Somnia  vana  iacent  totidem,  quot  messis  aristas, 
silva  gerit  frondes,  eiectas  litus  harenas. 
quo  simul  intravit  manibusque  obstantia  virgo 
Somnia  dimovit,  vestis  fulgore  reluxit 
sacra  domus,  tardaque  deus  gravitate  iacentes 
vix  oculos  tollens  iterumque  iterumque  relabens 
summaque  percutiens  nutanti  pectora  mento 
excussit  tandem  sibi  se  cubitoque  levatus, 
quid  veniat  (cognovit  enim),  scitatur. 

In  many  of  its  features  the  description  of  the  palace  of  Sleep 
is  original  with  Ovid,  though  the  source  of  the  fancy  is  Alex- 
andrian. Here  the  locality  is  different  from,  that  in  which 
Statius  places  it.  The  absence  of  noise  is  again  a  character- 
istic— the  wakeful  cock  does  not  call  up  dawn  with  his  crowing : 
the  howl  of  the  dog  and  the  cry  of  the  goose  are  still.  (In 
contrast  note  that  in  Lucian's  description,  Ver.  Hist.  2,  32, 
40  ff.,  the  cock  is  one  of  the  deities  worshipped  in  the  realm  of 
Sleep :  at  one  of  the  gates  of  the  city  is  a  temple  to ' AXe/crpvcov) 
And  besides,  no  sound  is  heard  from  the  animals,  no  noise  from 
trees  rustling  in  the  wind,  no  sound  of  human  voice.  From 


70  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

the  foot  of  the  rock  rises  the  river  Lethe,  the  whisper  of  whose 
waters  as  they  pass  over  the  stones  induces  soft  sleep.  Before 
the  doors  of  the  palace  grow  the  poppy  and  numerous  grasses 
from  whose  juices  Night  distills  sleeping-drugs,  and  scatters 
them  over  the  earth.  No  doors  has  the  dwelling — to  rouse  with 
their  creaking  the  sleeping  god. 

In  the  centre  of  the  palace  is  a  couch  of  soft  feathers,  with 
black  covering.  On  this  the  god  reclines,  his  limbs  relaxed 
with  weariness.  About  him  lie  dreams,  that  present  various 
shapes,  as  many  in  number  as  the  sands  of  the  sea,  the  ears  of 
the  harvest,  or  the  leaves  of  the  wood. 

The  other  passage  to  which  Statius  was  indebted  is  Vergil, 
A  en.  6.  268  ff. — a  description  of  the  palace  of  Dis : 

1.  274.  vestibulum  ante  ipsum  primisque  in  faucibus  Orel 
Luctus  et  ultrices  posuere  cubilia  Curae, 
pallentesque  habitant  Morbi,  tristisque  Senectus 
et  Metus,  et  malesuada  Fames,  ac  turpis  Egestas, 
terribiles  visu  f  ormae,  Letumque  Labosque ; 
turn  consanguineus  Leti  Sopor,  et  mala  mentis 
Gaudia,  mortiferumque  adverse  in  limine  Bellum, 
ferreique  Eumenidum  thalami  et  Discordia  demens 
vipereum  crinem  vittis  innexa  cruentis. 

In  medio  ramos  annosaque  bracchia  pandit 
ulmus  opaca,  ingens,  quam  sedem  Somnia  vulgo 
vana  tenere  ferunt,  foliisque  sub  omnibus  haerent. 
multaque  praeterea  variarum  monstra  ferarum. 
Centauri  in  foribus  stabulant,  Scyllaeque  biformes 
et  centumgeminus  Briareus,  ac  belua  Lernae 
horrendum  stridens,  flammisque  armata  Chimaera, 
Gorgones,  Harpyiaeque,  et  forma  Tricorporis  umbrae. 

The  inhabitants  of  Dis  are  arranged  into  three  groups  in 
Vergil's  account.  At  the  threshold  at  the  front  of  the  palace, 
and  grouped  about  it,  Grief  and  Avenging  Cares  have  their 
beds.  Here,  too,  are  pale  Disease,  sad  Old  Age,  Fear,  Hunger, 
Indigence,  Death,  Toil.  At  the  threshold  to  the  rear  stand 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  71 

Sleep,  Death's  kinsman,  Evil  Joys  of  the  mind,  fatal  War,  the 
brazen  chambers  of  the  Avenging  Sisters,  mad  Discord  with 
snake-locks.  In  the  centre  is  a  dark,  shady  elm  with  wide- 
spreading  branches — the  abode  of  Dreams.  These  lurk  be- 
neath all  the  leaves.  Besides  these  groups,  within  the  front 
threshhold  are  stalled  Centaurs,  Scylla,  Briareus,  the  Lernaean 
Hydra,  the  Chimaera,  Gorgons,  Harpies  and  the  triple-bodied 
Geryon. 

A  brief  comparison  with  Ovid's  treatment  of  the  motif  will 
bring  out  the  peculiarities  of  Statius'  style.  The  feature  of 
quietness  that  characterises  the  place  Ovid  expresses  simply — 
no  wakeful  cock  is  there  to  summon  Dawn  with  his  crowing: 
no  sound  from  barking  dogs  or  screeching  geese:  no  noise  from 
animals  that  roam  about,  or  from  the  trees  amid  whose  branches 
the  wind  passes:  only  the  river  Lethe  with  its  whispering 
waters  lulls  to  sleep  those  who  dwell  there. 

Statius'  treatment  is  much  more  artificial.  To  express  the 
same  feature  of  quietness  he  places  at  the  entrance  of  the  pal- 
ace demi-gods  who  stand  there  like  statues — Quies,  Oblivio,  Ig- 
navia,  Otia,  Silentia.  The  river  Lethe  lies  still  within  its  bed : 
there  is  no  sign  of  movement  anywhere.  And,  not  content 
with  making  these  beings  statue-like,  he  goes  on  to  place  within 
the  palace  numerous  real  figures  of  the  Sleep-god,  which  Vulcan 
had  curiously  wrought.  Here  is  a  group  of  Sleep  and  Pleasure 
reclining:  here  Sleep  and  Toil  sinking  down  with  exhaustion: 
in  another  place  he  occupies  a  couch  with  Bacchus,  in  another 
with  Love;  or  again  with  Death,  farther  within  the  palace. 
So  much  for  groups  of  ornamental  sculpture. 

In  the  description  of  the  god  himself  characteristic  differ- 
ences are  noted.  Statius  enters  much  more  into  detail  and  the 
god  as  he  describes  him  is  much  more  statue-like.  Ovid  dis- 
misses the  god  with  one  line — Quo  cubat  ipse  deus  membris  lan- 
guore  solutis :  Statius  dwells  on  the  picture  presented  by  the  god 
as  he  lay  there — the  pose,  arrangement  of  hair,  position  of 
arms,  etc.,  are  given.  The  left  hand  supports  the  hair  that 
hangs  from  the  left  temple:  his  horn  has  fallen  from  his  right 


72  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

hand  and  lies  with  it  by  his  side  unheeded.  With  his  Dreams 
too  Statins  gets  an  ornamental  effect,  representing  them  as 
</  clinging  to  the  beams  or  pillars  or  lying  on  the  ground,  while 
Ovid  pictures  them  only  as  lying  on  the  ground.  In  this  Sta- 
tius  is  borrowing  from  Vergil  (1.  c.)  who  makes  them  cling  to 
the  elm  tree  in  the  abode  of  Pluto. 

With  this  comparison  at  hand  one  does  not  need  to  dogmatise 
on  his  thesis;  all  that  seems  necessary  is  an  examination  of 
the  passages.  But  to  strengthen  the  case  a  comparison  with  the 
Vergil  passage  would  not  be  superfluous — indeed,  might  seem 
necessary.  Vergil  in  his  description  of  the  abode  of  Dis  fills 
the  palace  with  demi-gods,  or  at  least  with  beings  not  of  human 
mould.  In  his  description  these  are  given  their  conventional 
epithets:  in  Statius  the  epithets  define  more  closely  and  give 
more  the  impression  of  a  description  of  a  statue.  Note  these  in 
Vergil — ultrices  Curae,  pallentes  Morbi,  tristis  Senectus,  tur- 
pis  Egestas.  True,  Discordia  is  described  as  the  conventional 
fury  with  snake-locks.  Compare  in  Statius,  vigili  torpeus 
Ignavia  vultu,  pressis  Silentia  pinnis,  in  requiem  vergens  La- 
bor, redimita  Voluptas.  And  then  there  is  nothing  in  the 
Vergil  passage  that  gives  the  statue-like  pose  of  the  sleeping  god. 

With  the  Statius  passage  under  consideration  compare  the 
description  of  the  Abode  of  Mars  (Theb.  7,  47  if.) : 

1.  56.                                  occultisque  ensibus  astant 
Insidiae  geminumque  tenens  Discordia  ferrum. 
immmeris  strepit  aula  Minis,  tristissima  Virtus 
stat  medio,  laetusque  Furor  vultuque  cruento 
Mors  armata  sedet 

An  effect  somewhat  similar  to  that  produced  by  Statius' 
description  (loc.  cit.,  11.  106  ff.)  is  given  by  Vergil,  Eclog.  6, 
13  ff.: 

Chromis  et  Mnasylos  in  antro 
Silenum  pueri  somno  videre  iacentem, 
inflatum  hesterno  venas,  ut  semper,  laccho ; 
serta  procul,  tantum  capiti  delapsa,  iacebant 
et  gravis  attrita  pendebat  cantharus  ansa. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Siatius  73 

Undoubtedly  we  have  here  a  picture:  Silenus  is  lying  down, 
bloated  from  his  revels  of  the  preceding  day.  At  some  little 
distance  from  him  lie  the  garlands  that  adorned  him  in  his 
revels ;  and  his  hand  still  clutches  the  tankard  with  worn  handle. 
Perhaps  Statius  may  have  had  this  passage  in  mind:  or  some 
picture  that  gave  the  suggestion. 


74  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

CHAPTEE  II. 
SOME  PASSAGES  CITED  BY  LEGEAS. 

It  would  seem  that  Legras  saw  this  characteristic  of  Statins' 
style  (see  Legras,  Etude  sur  la  TJiebaide  de  Stace,  1905).  But 
he  has  barely  touched  on  it — indeed  the  example  he  cites  would 
scarcely  convince  one  that  he  really  saw  the  tendency  fully. 
Here  is  what  he  says — '  Stace  dans  ses  descriptions  comme  dans 
ses  episodes,  etend  ses  modeles  et  montre  avec  plus  de  details 
ce  qu'ils  ne  font  qu'indiquer ;  cela  lui  est  facile,  car  il  a  le  style 
naturellement  plastique,  et  il  rend  aussi  bien,  semble-t-il,  les 
groupes  vivants  que  les  statues  et  les  tableaux.  On  en  a  deja 
donne  la  preuve  en  etudiant  1'attitude  de  ses  lutteurs  et  ses 
discoboles  (p.  263,  op.  cit.)  ;  en  voici  un  nouvel  exemple,  plus 
decisif  encore: 

inter  adhortaiites  vix  sponte  incedit  Adrastus, 
contentus  ferro  cingi  latus:  arma  manipli 
pone  ferunt,  volucres  portis  auriga  sub  ipsis 
comit  equos,  et  iam  inde  iugo  luctatur  Arion. 

(4,  40  ff.)- 

Rien  de  mieux  compose,  ni  de  plus  vivant,  et  pourtant  la  scene 
ne  peut  guere  avoir  ete  figuree  par  un  artiste ;  Stace  a  du  s'in- 
spirer,  pour  1'essentiel,  de  ce  qu'il  a  vu  au  cirque  dans  les  cour- 
ses des  chars.'  And  further  in  a  note  he  continues — i  Dans  la 
peinture  meme  des  animaux,  Stace  a  du  se  rappeler  aussi, 
comme  tant  de  peintres  de  Pompei  (cf.  Helbig,  Untersuch.  lib. 
d.  Campan.  Wandmaler.  1873,  92  sq.)  les  combats  du  cirque, 
d' animaux  contre  belluaires,  ou  d' animaux  contre  animaux.' 

Now,  at  the  outset,  one  may  remark  that  aside  from  this 
Adrastus  passage  all  those  cited  by  Legras  refer  to  forms  of 
athletes  or  to  athletic  contests.  It  would  be  difficult  indeed 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  75 

for  a  poet,  describing  a  boxing  match  or  wrestling  bout  or 
chariot-race  or  foot-race,  to  prevent  his  description  from  drawing 
forms  of  statues,  so  to  speak,  inasmuch  as  sculpture  had  for 
its  subjects  the  forms  of  athletes,  or  the  representations  of 
certain  moments  in  an  athletic  contest  or  display  of  skill.  To 
be  convinced  of  this  one  need  only  examine  the  treatment  of 
similar  themes  in  other  poets,  and  note  that  they  too  seem  to 
place  before  one's  eyes  a  sculpture  or  painting  in  their  de- 
scription of  an  athletic  event. 

But  before  passing  to  an  examination  of  the  other  passages 
suggested  by  Legras,  a  word  about  this  description  of  Adrastus. 
The  occasion  is  the  preparation  for  the  departure  of  the  Argive 
army  for  Thebes.  Adrastus  has  given  his  consent  to  the  war 
against  Eteocles,  and  the  hosts  begin  to  assemble.  The  aged 
king  Adrastus,  as  he  prepares  to  mount  his  chariot  is  attended 
by  his  squires.  Here  can  be  seen  grouping  as  in  a  fresco:  but 
the  occasion  is  much  like  that  of  a  chariot-race,  and  hence  the 
tendency  towards  the  plastic  is  here  not  so  remarkable.  But 
in  his  description  of  Sol  as  he  sinks  with  his  weary  steeds  be- 
neath the  western  horizon  (Theb.  3,  409),  an  occasion  where 
the  familiar  preparation  for  athletic  contests  s'hould  not  exert 
any  influence:  but  which  in  other  respects  is  similar,  Statins 
has  grouped  his  figures  with  even  more  detail. 

Barth  points  out  that  the  passage  cited  by  Legras  is  taken 
from  Vergil  (Aen.  12,  82  ff.). 

Here  Turnus  prepares  to  go  out  and  engage  Aeneas  in  hand 
to  hand  conflict,  and  about  him  his  comrades  throng  to  prepare 
him  for  the  encounter.  The  effect  of  a  fresco  is  given  here 
just  as  much  as  in  the  Statius  passage:  on  one  side  Turnus 
arms  himself — on  the  other  a  group  of  squires  prepare  his 
horses,  some  patting  their  flanks  and  others  combing  out  their 
manes.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  groups  are  not  so 
numerous. 

The  Chariot-race.  One  of  the  other  passages  suggested  by 
Legras  is  the  chariot-race,  Theb.  6,  416  ff.,  where  the  vividness 
of  the  description  puts  the  scene  before  the  reader's  eyes  as  if 


76  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

it  were  being  enacted  in  the  circus.  One  cannot  say  that  the 
description  is  suggested  by  a  work  of  art  rather  than  by  observa- 
tion of  the  event  in  the  circus,  but  whichever  way  we  interpret 
it,  the  same  tendency  is  shown: 

mine  avidi  prono  iuga  pectore  tangunt 
mine  pugnante  genu  et  pressis  duplicantur  habeiiis. 
colla  toris  crinita  tument,  stantisque  repectit 
aura  iubas,  bibit  albentis  humus  avida  nimbos. 

That  Statius  was  indebted  to  Homer  for  such  vividness  of 
description  Legras  does  not  admit.  He  says  (p.  263)  '  n'eut-il 
pas  eu  Homere  sous  les  yeux  qu'ici  il  eut  ete  aussi  energique 
et  aussi  precis  ' ;  but  as  suggested  above,  the  subject  lends  itself 
to  such  treatment.  Manilius  (5,  71  ff.)  has  a  similar  passage. 
He  is  describing  the  rising  of  the  constellation  Heniochus,  the 
Wagoner,  and  his  swift  flight  across  the  sky;  and  Breiter  in 
his  note  draws  attention  to  the  fact  that  his  description  recalls 
the  tricks  of  the  circus: 

Hie  dabit  proprium  studium  caeloque  retentas, 
quas  prius  in  terris  agitator  amaverat,  artes: 
stare  levi  curru  moderantem  quattuor  ora 
spumigeris  frenata  lupis  et  flectere  equorum 
praevalidas  vires  ac  torto  stringere  gyro, 
sed  cum  laxato  fugerunt  cardine  claustra, 
exagitare  feros  pronumque  anteire  volantis 
vixque  rotis  levibus  summum  contingere  campum 
vincentem  pedibus  ventos.  .  .  . 

Statius'  description  is  more  powerful  and  vivid,  but  Manilius 
has  nevertheless  all  the  details.  Compare  the  passage  cited  by 
Earth  from  Sidonius  Apollinaris  (see  Earth's  notes  to  Statius, 
1.  c.).  The  passage  refers  to  the  chariot-race  in  the  games 
held  on  Jan.  1 : 


Instant  verberibus  simul  regentes 
iamque  et  pectora  prona  de  covino 
extensi  rapiuntur,  et  iugales 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  77 

trans  armos  feriunt,  vacante  tergo, 
nee  cernas  cito,  cernuos  magistros 
temones  mage  sufferant,  an  axes. 

(Sid.  Apoll.  23,  350). 

As  a  proof  that  this  vividness  of  description  was  not  due  to 
borrowing  from  Homer,  Legras  cites  Tlieb.  6,  590 — where  the 
pose  of  the  youthful  athletes  preparing  for  a  start  in  a  foot-race 
is  described.  For  this,  he  says,  there  is  no  Homeric  back- 
ground : 

poplite  nunc  sidunt  flexo,  nunc  lubrica  forti 
pectora  conlidunt  plausu,  nunc  ignea  tollunt 
crura,  brevemque  fugam  necopino  fine  reponunt. 

Statius7  description  of  Phlegyas  throwing  the  discus  (Theb.  6, 
678  ff.)  is  also  taken  as  a  proof  that  the  poet  was  no  mere  imi- 
tator of  Homer.  This  is  the  passage  which  some  interpreters 
of  Statius  maintained  owed  its  inspiration  to  Myron's  '  Disko- 
bolos  '  (Vid.  K.  Fr.  Hermann,  Uber  den  Kunstsinn  der  Rome,*, 
p.  30  ff.),  but  which  Gaymann  (Kunstarchdologisclie  Studien, 
p.  27)  contends  need  not  be  referred  to  that  work  of  art.  Le- 
gras agrees  with  the  latter  that  the  description  is  original  with 
Statius,  that  he  is  merely  drawing  a  word  picture  of  a  scene 
he  had  beheld  often  in  the  circus, — '  Stace  ne  parait  devoir  qu7 
a  lui-meme  ces  peintures,  et  elles  sont  vivantes.7 

But  what  is  original  with  Statius  is  not  so  easy  to  deter- 
mine. As  Legras  himself  remarks  he  watches  Ovid  very 
closely.  Anyhow,  even  where  he  is  not  altogether  original  he 
can  be  counted  on  for  additional  details.  This  has  been  seen 
already  and  can  be  further  illustrated  by  an  examination  of 
his  description  of  the  wrestling  bout  between  Tydeus  and  Agyl- 
leus  (Theb.  6,  835  n°.)  and  a  comparison  of  his  treatment  of  the 
themes  with  that  of  poets  that  preceded  'him : 

levat  ardua  contra 

membra  Cleonaeae  stirpis  iactator  Agylleus, 
Herculea  nee  mole  minor,  sic  grandibus  alte 
insurgens  humeris  hominem  super  improbus  exit. 


78  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

The  passage  is  too  long  to  be  cited  in  full,  so  I  shall  resort  to 
a  summary  to  make  the  comparison  with  Ovid. 

The  motif  goes  back  to  Apollonius  of  Rhodes  (2,  30  ff.)  the 
fight  of  Polydeukes  and  Amykos:  with  him,  however,  the  de- 
scription is  not  so  detailed  as  in  the  later  poets.  (1)  The 
combatants  strip  for  the  contest: 


ev6y  airo  TvvSapiSrjs  [lev  ev&TiTrrov  Oero 
\eTna\eoVj  TO  pd  ol  TLS  eov  %zivr)iQV  elvai 
wTracre  A.rj^md8a)v  •  o  8'  epepvrjv  ^LTrrv^a  XCOTTTJV 
/cd/3/3a\e,  rrjv  <fropeecr/cev,  bpiTpefyeos  KOTLVOLO. 


(2)  The  description  of  the  fighters:  here  he  does  not  go  into 
such  detail  as  do  Vergil  and  Ovid:  there  is  not  so  much  posing 
as  in  the  later  accounts.  (3)  The  picture  of  the  bystanders  — 
the  sympathisers  with  each  side. 

The  fight  of  Entellus  and  Dares  in  Aen.  5,  421  ff.  is  an 
adaptation  of  this  motif.  The  description  is  more  elaborate 
than  in  Apollonius.  (1)  The  contestants  strip  and  put  on 
the  caestus: 

haec  fatus  duplicem  ex  humeris  reiecit  amictum, 
et  magnos  membrorum  artus,  magna  ossa  lacertosque 
exuit,  atque  ingens  media  consistit  harena. 
turn  satus  Anchisa  caestus  pater  extulit  aequos 
et  paribus  palmas  amborum  innexuit  'armis. 

(2)  They  pose  and  get  set  for  the  attack: 

constitit  in  digitos  extemplo  arrectus  uterque, 
bracchiaque  ad  superos  interritus  extulit  auras. 

(3)  The  combat  —  they  spar  for  openings  in  each  other's  de- 
fense.    (4)   Near  the  fighters  are  the  prizes  —  a  bull  and   a 
wreath  : 

dixit  et  adversi  contra  stetit  ora  iuvenci 
qui  donum  adstabat  pugnae. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  79 

The  parallel  passage  in  Ovid  is  the  description  given  by  the 
river-god  Achelous  of  the  struggle  in  which  Hercules  van- 
quished him  (Met.  9,  31  ff.).  The  several  steps  in  the  de- 
scription are  as  follows:  the  preparation — stripping  for  the 
bout  (1.  32) :  sprinkling  of  the  opponents  with  sand  (35,  36) : 
sparring  for  holds  (37-43) :  the  struggles  (44,  45) :  their 
struggle  compared  to  a  fight  between  two  bulls:  a  beautiful 
heifer,  the  prize  of  victory  stands  by,  and  all  the  herd  watch 
the  furious  encounter  (46-49)  :  struggling  and  breaking  of 
holds  (51-53)  :  Hercules  falls  on  Achelous  (54-61)  :  the  river- 
god  employs  his  arts  of  transformation,  but  is  vanquished  (62- 
84) :  picture  of  the  vanquished  god  (84). 

The  resemblance  of  Statins'  treatment  to  that  of  Ovid  is 
striking — though  with  him  details  are  dwelt  on 'at  much  greater 
length.  The  pose,  and  stripping  for  the  contest  (835):  de- 
scription of  combatants  (837-846)  :  preliminaries — oiling  their 
bodies  and  sprinkling  them  with  sand  (847-850)  :  the  start — 
playing  for  holds:  Agylleus  towering  over  Tydeus  is  compared 
to  a  tree  bent  down  to  the  ground  (851-859)  :  trying  for  holds 
and  breaking  them  (860-3)  :  simile  of  the  fight  between  two 
bulls — the  white  heifer,  the  cause  of  the  dispute,  stands  by  and 
watches  the  combat :  simile  of  the  fighting  boars :  simile  of  the 
bear  (864-9):  effect  of  the  strain  on  the  contestants:  Tydeus 
beneath  his  opponent :  simile  of  the  buried  miner :  Tydeus'  hold : 
he  raises  his  opponent:  throws  him  to  earth  and  falls  upon 
him:  picture  of  the  vanquished  hero: 

tandem  pectus  humi  pronumque  extensus  in  alvum 
sternitur,  ac  longo  maestus  post  tempore  surgit. 

That  the  resemblance  of  Statins'  description  to  that  of  Ovid 
is  not  accidental,  one  is  tempted  to  conclude.  They  come 
especially  near  in  their  description  of  the  actual  struggle. 
Ovid  compares  the  fight  to  that  of  two  bulls,  with  the  beautiful 
heifer,  and  the  rest  of  the  herd  standing  by: 

non  aliter  vidi  fortes  concurrere  tauros 
cum  pretium  pugnae  toto  nitidissima  saltu 


80  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

expetitur  coniunx :  spectant  armenta  paventque 
nescia,  quern  maneat  tanti  victoria  regni. 

(1.  46  ff.) 

Statins  employs  the  same  simile — but  gives  more  the  effect  of 
a  picture.  The  heifer  in  his  description  is  white,  and  stands 
by — no  mention  being  made  of  the  rest  of  the  herd.1  And  as 
usual  Statius  is  not  content  with  what  he  borrows,  but  must 
add  details;  following  this  picture  with  a  series  of  others: 

non  sic  ductores  gemini  gregis  horrida  tauri 
bella  movent;  medio  coniunx  stat  Candida  prato 
victorem  expectans,  rumpunt  obnixa  furentes 
pectora,  subdit  amor  stimulos  ac  vulnera  sanat: 
fulmineo  sic  dente  sues,  sic  hispida  turpes 
proelia  villosis  ineunt  complexibus  ursi. 

(Theb.  6,  864.) 

However,  Statius'  description  does  not  suffer  in  comparison 
with  that  of  Ovid.  It  is  full  of  life  and  vigor.  One  sees  the 
wrestlers  before  him  as  if  they  were  actually  engaged  in  the 
contest.  This  is  what  gives  the  effect  of  sculpture  or  paint- 
ing. But,  as  we  remarked  above,  themes  like  these  are  not 
the  best  for  the  purposes  of  illustration,  inasmuch  as  it  is  im- 
possible for  a  poet  in  dealing  with  them  to  create  any  other 
impression. 


aTliis  feature  also  he  has  borrowed  from  Ovid  (Am.  2,  12,  25)  : 
vidi    ego   pro   nivea    pugnantes    coniuge   tauros 
spectatrix    animos    ipsa    iuvenca    debat. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  81 

CHAPTER   III. 

SIMILES  OF  STATIUS. 
Theb.  11,  530. 

This  stylistic  tendency  in  Statins  can  be  illustrated  by  an 
examination  of  his  similes,  some  of  which  he  borrows  from  one 
author,  some  from  two  or  more,  while  some  are  original  with 
him.  Scarcely  ever  does  he  reproduce  a  simile  in  the  exact  form 
in  which  it  appears  in  the  author  to  whom  he  is  indebted.  He 
takes  sometimes  an  element  from  one  author  and  another  ele- 
ment from  another.  Naturally  then  his  similes  are  more  elabo- 
rate, and  it  is  this  fact  at  times  that  leads  him  off  into  picture 
drawing.  An  illustration  of  this  is  seen  in  a  simile  in  the 
eleventh  book  of  the  Thebaid,  where  he  compares  the  struggle 
of  the  brothers  Eteocles  and  Polynices  to  the  fight  of  two  wild 
boars.  The  original  of  the  simile  is  Euripides,  Phoen.  1379  — 
a  description  of  the  duel  between  Eteocles  and  Polynices  : 


rjl*av  SpdfjLrjfjLa  Sewov 

tcaTTpot,  8'  OTTO)?  Otftyovres  a<ypiav  yevvv 


Statius  takes  over  the  simile,  and  after  the  rhetorical  manner 
adds  descriptive  epithets.  In  the  Euripides  passage  the  boars 
are  represented  as  coming  together  '  whetting  their  cruel  tusks 
—with  foam  scattered  over  their  jaws.'  With  Statius,  the  con- 
ventional epithet  *  fulmineos  '  is  used.  Their  bristles  are  said 
to  stand  up  on  their  backs,  and  fire  to  flash  from  their  eyes  ; 
their  'jaws  are  called  i  lunata  '  : 

fulmineos  veluti  praeceps  cum  comminus  egit 
ira  sues  strictisque  erexit  tergora  saetis: 
igne  tremunt  oculi,   lunataque  dentibus  uncis 
ora  sonant;  spectat  pugnas  de  rupe  propinqua 
venator  pallens  canibusque  silentia  suadet. 

(TJieb.  11,  530.) 
6 


82  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

But  besides  making  his  description  more  elaborate  and  rhe- 
torical, Statins  makes  a  more  significant  addition.  To  express 
more  vividly  the  horror  inspired  by  the  fighting  of  the  wild 
brutes  he  introduces  the  picture  of  a  huntsman  standing  on  a 
crag  above  the  valley  where  the  fight  takes  place,  with  fright- 
ened look  watching  the  struggle,  and  trying  to  silence  his  dogs. 
The  simile  has  not  lost  anything  in  force,  but  its  very  pictur- 
esqueness  draws  the  mind  away  from  the  real  object — the  fight 
between  the  two  brothers.  It  becomes  a  picture  for  its  own 
sake. 


Theb.  8,  124. 

Commentators  have  noted  that  Statius  seeks  to  surpass  Ovid 
in  description — that  he  had  his  eye  upon  him  constantly.  One 
simile  that  he  has  borrowed  from  Ovid  comes  from  Theb.  8, 
124  ff.  The  basis  of  comparison  taken  is  the  lion  with  its 
prey.  The  source  is  Trist.  3,  5,  33: 

corpora  magnanimo  satis  est  prostrasse  leoni, 
pugna  suum  finem,  cum  iacet  hostis,  habet. 

This  simple  characterization  Statius  amplifies ;  and  at  the  end 
of  his  version  tacks  on  a  picture  in  his  usual  manner : 

ut  leo,  Massyli  cum  lux  stetit  obvia  ferri 
tune  iras,  tune  arma  citat ;  si  decidit  hostis, 
ire  supra  satis  est  vitamque  relinquere  victo. 

In  contrast  with  Ovid's  i  pugna  suum  finem  habet '  note  the 
pose  of  the  beast  in  the  line  of  Statius  '  ire  supra  satis  est  vitam- 
que relinquere  victo.'  One  sees  the  lion  standing  astride  his 
fallen  foe. 

Statius  has  developed  the  simile  in  different  fashion  in  Theb. 
7,  529  ff.  Here  there  is  not  the  same  pose.  The  lion  is  rep- 
resented as  refusing  to  satisfy  his  hunger  over  his  fallen  prey : 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  83 

quales  ubi  tela  virosque 
pectoris  impulsu  rapid!  stravere  leones, 
protinus  ira  minor,  gaudentque  in  corpore  capto 
securam  differre  f amem. 

Compare  also  the  adaptations  of  the  simile  in  Claudianus 

(C.  M.  22,  27) : 

emollit  rabiem  praedae  mortisque  facultas. 
praetereunt  subiecta  ferae,  torvique  leones, 
quae  stravisse  calent,  ea  mox  prostrata  relinquunt. 

Here  again  the  same  details  are  given,  but  the  effect  of  a  pose 
is  wanting.  In  the  passages  to  be  compared  Statins  alone 
secures  this  effect — and  we  must  assume  that  it  is  not  without 
significance. 

For  the  details  of  the  first  part  of  the  comparison  no  doubt 
he  drew  on  Vergil  (Aen.  12,  6ff.)  : 

Poenorum  qualis  in  arvis 
saucius  ille  gravi  venantum  volnere  pectus 
turn  demum  movet  arma  leo  gaudetque  conaantis 
excutiens  cervice  toros  fixumque  latronis 
impavidus  frangit  telum  et  fremit  ore  cruento. 

The  same  comparison  is  employed  by  Priscian — (De  laud-3 
Anastas.,  67  ff.).  It  is  a  simile  on  the  manner  in  which  Anas- 
tasius  subdued  his  enemies :  the  second  part  however  is  lacking : 

ut  leo,  qui  regnans  silva  dominatur  in  alta 
per  Libyae  saltus,  nisi  nobilis  ira  lacessat, 
non  movet  arma,  suas  stimulat  nee  verbere  vires ; 
at  si  commpveat  clamor,  si  turba  coronae, 
infremit  horrendum  simul  et  distendit  hiatus 
sanguineis  torquens  ardentia  lumina  flammis 
et  ruit  in  medium,  prosternens  arma  virosque. 


84  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Theb.  4,  363. 

Sometimes  however  Statius  merely  changes  a  picture  given 
in  the  simile  from  which  he  draws.  In  that  case,  his  picture 
is  more  elaborate  than  that  in  the  source-passage.  A  case  in 
point  is  the  simile  of  the  wolf  in  the  fourth  book — a  compari- 
son that  is  drawn  to  describe  the  feeling  and  manner  of  the 
Argive  host  as  it  gathered  together  and  set  out  for  Thebes. 
The  source  is  Vergil  (Aen.  11,  809) — a  comparison  of  Arruns, 
the  slayer  of  Camilla,  to  a  wolf  that  has  committed  some  fearful 
depredation  on  the  sheepfold: 

ac  velut  ille,  priusquam  tela  inimica  sequantur, 
continue  in  montes  sese  avius  abdidit  altos, 
occiso  pastore,  lupus,  magnove  iuvenco 
conscius  audacis  facti,  caudamque  remulcens 
subiecit  pavitantem  utero,  silvasque  petivit. 

Here  Vergil  has  picked  up  the  phrase,  i  conscius  audacis  facti ? 
and  developed  a  life-like  picture  from  it.  Statius  describes 
this  in  almost  the  same  phrase,  but  does  not  pursue  the  motif 
and  draw  his  most  vivid  picture  from  that  side.  Kather,  he 
expands  the  picture  of  the  wolf  as  he  leaves  the  fold,  his  hair 
matted  with  blood,  and  stuck  with  bits  of  wool: 

ille  velut  pecoris  lupus  expugnator  opimi 
pectora  tabenti  sanie  gravis  hirtaque  saetis 
ora  cruentata  deformis  hiantia  lana, 
decedit  stabulis  hue  illuc  turbida  versans 
lumina,  si  duri  comperta  clade  sequantur 
pastores,  magnique  fugit  non  inscius  ausi. 

(Theb.  4,  363.) 

To  balance  the  picture  in  the  last  two  lines  of  the  Vergil 
passage  Statius  has,  '  decedit  stabulis  hue  illuc  turbida  versans  ' 
— not  as  striking  a  picture,  to  be  sure.  In  addition  he  de- 
scribes the  appearance  of  the  wolf  as  he  leaves  the  fold  with  the 
marks  of  carnage  on  him.  Certainly  he  has  outdone  Vergil 
in  detailed  picture-drawing. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  85 

In  strong  contrast  is  the  simplicity  of  the  Homer  passage 
(II.  15,  586)  which  was  the  source  of  Vergil's  comparison. 
It  describes  Antilochus  fleeing  before  Hector : 


?  07'  ap*  erpecre  Orjpi  Katcov  pe^avn 
09  re  Kvva  Kretvas  rj  {3ovfco\ov  apfyi  ftoecrariv 
,  irpiv  Trep  ofju\ov 


Theb.  9,  242. 

The  expansion  of  the  simile  of  the  dolphin  and  the  fish  pro- 
duces an  effect  like  that  of  a  picture  —  such  a  picture  as  might 
easily  be  represented  on  a  vase  or  fresco.  Statius  again  bor- 
rows from  Homer  (II.  21,  22)  : 


VTTO 

-i  fjuv%ovs  XtfteVo9  evoppov 
<ydp  re  KareaOiet  ov  K€  \d/3rjcnv. 


Here  the  details  of  the  comparison  are  simple.  The  fish  catch 
sight  of  the  dolphin,  and  in  fear  dive  down  to  the  bottom  and 
hide  in  the  dark  places  there,  underneath  stones  or  in  weeds  — 
though  this  detail  is  supplied  by  Statius,  Homer  leaves  that  to 
the  reader  to  understand.  Statius'  description  is  more  elabo- 
rate, and  runs  off  into  a  fancy  that  might  easily  have  been 
represented  in  plastic  art: 

qualis  caeruleis  tumido  sub  gurgite  terror 
piscibus,  arcani  quotiens  devexa  profundi 
scrutantem  delphina  vident  ;  f  ugit  omnis  in  imos 
turba  lacus  viridisque  metu  stipantur  in  algas: 
nee  prius  emersi,  quam  summa  per  aequora  flexus 
emicet,  et  visis  malit  certare  carinis. 

The  scene  of  dolphins  playing  about  a  ship  was  common. 
See  for  instance  the  representation,  on  a  cylix  by  Execias,  of 
Dionysus  crossing  the  sea  in  his  ship  about  which  dolphins 
play.  (Furt.  and  Reich,  i,  PL  42.)  Of.  II.  27,  where  the 


86  Tine  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

dolphins  play  about  Neptune.  Cf .  too  the  picture  in  Moschus, 
2,  125  if.,  of  the  dolphins  playing  about  the  bull  as  he  passes 
over  the  water  with  Europa  on  his  back. 


Occasionally  Statius'  adaptation  of  a  simile  is  much  more 
beautiful  than  the  original,  as,  for  example,  in  his  comparison 
of  the  swell  upon  the  sea  after  the  fury  of  the  wind  has  abated. 
In  this  instance  he  draws  from  Lucan  (Phars.  5,  217)  : 

sed  ut  tumidus  Boreae  post  flamina  pontus 
rauca  gemit,  sic  muta  levant  suspiria  vatem, 

and  Seneca  (Here.  Fur.  1089)  : 

ut  ingenti  vexata  noto 
servat  longos  unda  tumultus 
et  iam  vento  cessante  tumet. 

Compare  with  these  the  passage  in  Statius: 

ut  si  quando  ruit  debellatasque  relinquit 
Eurus  aquas,  pax  ipsa  tumet  pontumque  iacentem 
exanimis  iam  volvit  hiems !  nondum  arma  carinis 
omnia,  nee  toto  respirant  pectore  nautae. 

(Theb.  7,  86.) 

The  expression  '  pax  ipsa  tumet '  is  rhetorical  but  forceful 
and  vivid.  Earth  notes — '  elegantissima  haec  sunt,  et  pretium 
poetae  manifestant ' — and  he  cites  a  parallel  from  Claudian 
(in  Rufin.  1,  70  ff.).  Compare  too  '  exanimis  iam  volvit 
hiems.7  Statius  has  undoubtedly  surpassed  his  sources.  But 
again  he  has  added  something  too  much — which  is  due  to  hia 
love  of  picture-drawing — in  representing  the  tackle  gone  from 
the  ships,  and  the  sailors  still  holding  their  breath  from  fear. 

Claudianus  (loc.  cit.)  has  imitated  this  passage  closely,  but 
here  he  has  fallen  short  of  Statius : 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  87 

ceu  murmurat  alti 

implacata  quies  pelagi,  cum  flainine  fracto 
durat  adhuc  saevitque  tumor  dubiumque  per  aestum 
lassa  recedentes  fluitant  vestigia  venti. 


Theb.  10,  646. 

When  the  Thebans  were  being  hard  pressed  by  the  besieging 
Argive  army,  their  leaders  approached  T.eiresias  to  enquire 
from  him  what  way  their  safety  could  be  secured.  He  declared 
to  them  that  hard  conditions  were  attached  to  their  safety — 
that  the  Dragon  of  Mars  demanded  that  the  youngest  scion 
of  the  race  sprung  from  him  should  be  sacrificed  for  their 
city:  in  no  other  way  could  Thebes  be  saved.  This  prophecy 
was  aimed  at  Menosceus. 

Statius  £;oes  on  to  describe  how  Menoeceus  was  inspired  to 
sacrifice  his  life  to  save  his  city.  The  goddess  Virtus  comes 
down  from  heaven  and,  assuming  the  likeness  of  the  prophetess 
Manto,  approaches  the  youth  to  inspire  him  to  give  up  his 
life.  The  poet  describes  the  various  details  of  the  goddess' 
disguise,  which  was  not  perfect  enough  to  hide  the  beauty  and 
dignity  of  the  goddess  beneath: 

sed  placuit  mutare  genas,  fit  provida  Manto 
(responsis  ut  plana  fides)   et  fraude  priores 
exuitur  vultus,  abiit  horrorque  vigorque 
ex  oculis,  paulum  decoris  permansit  honosque 
mollior,  et  posito  vatum  gestamina  ferro 
subdita;  descendunt  vestes,  torvisque  ligatur 
vitta  comis  (nam  laurus  erat)  ;  tamen  aspera  produnt 
ora  deam  nimiique  gradus. 

To  give  a  picture  of  the  goddess  attempting  to  conceal  her 
divine  form  beneath  human  garb,  Statius  recalls  the  picture 
of  Herakles  at  the  home  of  Omphale  in  Lydia,  wearing  the 
dress  of  Omphale's  maidens  and  engaging  in  women's  tasks 
and  women's  religious  rites: 


88  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

sic  Lydia  coniunx 

Amphitryoniaden  exutum  horrentia  terga 
perdere  Sidonios  umeris  ridebat  amictus 
et  turbare  colos  et  tympana  rumpere  dextra. 

(Theb.  10.  646.) 

This  comparison,  original  with  Statins,  is  not  a  very  happy 
one.  Earth  notes  this,  commenting  on  the  passage :  '  parum 
apposita  comparatio  meretriculae  Heroem  irridentis,  ad  Virtu- 
tern  Menceceo  liberandam  sanguine  suo  patriam  persuasuram." 
The  introduction  of  this  semi-comic  allusion  to  Herakles 
into  a  tragic  situation  is  harsh:  but  that  feature  of  the 
description  is  not  our  chief  concern  here.  The  remainder  of 
Earth's  note  is  more  to  our  purpose — "  Omphalen  dicit  .... 
Pictura  huius  fabellae  longe  elegantissima  conspicitur  in  arce 
Regia  Torgensi  ad  Albim,  Alberti  Dureri  famigeratissimi  ar- 
tificis  manus." 

The  subject  was  a  favorite  one  in  E-oman  wall  painting,  but 
whether  Statins  is  describing  any  definite  work  of  art  is  un- 
certain :  indeed  it  is  unlikely.  But  undoubtedly  his  description 
is  influenced  by  some  such  painting:  and  it  is  the  influence  of 
plastic  art  that  turns  him  from  the  description  of  the  object 
before  him  to  picture-drawing,  as  in  this  illustration. 

For  representations  of  this  theme  see  0.  Jahn,  "  Berichte  d. 
sachs.  Gesells."  1855,  p.  215  f.  Taf.  vi.  and  Helbig,  Wand- 
gemdlde  nos.  1133  f.  Perhaps  the  representation  that  comes 
nearest  to  the  description  in  this  passage  is  Helbig  no.  1136. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  89 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Achilleid. 
Ach.  1,  159. 

Achilleid  1,  159  is  a  clear  illustration  of  this  stylistic  ten- 
dency in  the  poet.  It  is  a  description  of  Achilles  as  he  appeared 
to  Thetis  when  she  visited  him  at  his  home  with  Cheiron  on 
Mt.  Pelion.  The  hero  has  just  returned  from  the  hunt,  and 
the  poet  stops  to  describe  his  beauty  as  he  approaches  his 
mother,  dirty  with  the  dust  and  sweat  of  the  chase,  yet  beautiful 
to  look  upon.  The  poet  dwells  upon  the  ruddy  glow  in  the 
youth's  face,  the  beauty  of  his  golden  locks — the  light  of  youth 
in  his  eye  and  the  complete  resemblance  to  his  mother ;  and  as 
he  thinks  of  the  two  sides  of  the  training  given  the  hero  by 
Cheiron — hunting  and  music — he  turns  and  places  before  the 
reader  the  conventional  hunter  and  musician  Apollo: 

ille  aderat  multo  sudore  et  pulvere  maior 
et  tamen  arma  inter  festinatosque  labores 
dulcis  adhuc  visu:  niveo  natat  ignis  in  ore 
purpureus  fulvoque  nitet  coma  gratior  auro 
necdum  prima  nova  lanugine  vertitur  aetas, 
tranquillaeque  faces  oculis  et  plurima  vultu 
mater   inest:   qualis  Lycia  venator  Apollo 
cum  redit  et  saevis  permutat  plectra  pharetris. 

This  motif — the  comparison  of  a  hero  or  heroine  to  a  god 
or  goddess  is  common  in  epic  poetry.  The  passage  under  con- 
sideration is  an  imitation  from  Vergil,  A  en.  4,  143.  So  says 
Lemaire  in  the  note  to  the  Statius  passage.  But  Vergil  in  turn 
was  indebted  to  Apollonius  of  Rhodes  (see  Forbiger  on  A  en. 
4,  143  if.),  who  cites  Henry  for  the  comparison.  Heyne's  note 
is — i  Aeneas  comparatur  cum  Apolline  festo  die  prodeunte  ad 
chores  ducendos,  ut  supra  1,  489,  Dido  cum  Diana  etc.  .  .  .' 


90  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Thus  we  see  that  Statins  had  a  good  deal  of  tradition  for  his 
comparison,  and  an  examination  of  his  treatment  of  the  motif 
side  by  side  with  that  of  his  predecessors  and  with  that  which 
seemed  later  to  be  modelled  upon  him  will  serve  to  show  what 
was  peculiar  to  him. 

First,  the  Apollonius  passage — where  Jason,  setting  forth 
from  the  house  after  a  farewell  talk  with  his  mother,  is  com- 
pared with  Apollo  leaving  his  shrine  and  passing  through  his 
native  haunts,  sacred  Delos,  or  Klaros,  or  Pytho,  or  Lycia's 
broad  expanse,  by  Zanthus'  streams : 

r)  Kal  6  IJLCV  Trporepwae  SO/ACM  ef  wpro 
olo?  8'  eK  vrjolo  OvwSeos  elauv  ' 
AT)XOZ/  av9  r)rya0er)V  qe  JL\dpov  r)  6  ye 
TJ  AVKITJV  eupelav  eVl  SaVtfoto  poy<nv 
roio?  ava  7r\7)0vv  SIJ/JLOV  iciev  .... 

Here  two  motives  are  at  work,  desire  for  the  mythological 
allusion  which  with  the  Alexandrians  had  become  conventional, 
and  love  of  geographical  description  as  a  display  of  erudition, 
a  characteristic  which  Apollonius,  as  we  have  seen,  exhibits  in 
a  remarkable  degree.  The  poet  makes  much  of  the  places  that 
the  god  frequents,  carrying  the  reader  with  him  from  Delos 
to  Klaros,  etc.  In  fact  one  forgets  the  comparison  in  the 
names  of  places  with  their  conventional  epithets. 

Naturally,  Vergil  has  not  taken  the  simile  out  of  Apollonius 
bodily,  but  has  changed  it  and  made  several  additions.  He 
compares  Aeneas,  as  he  prepares  his  men  for  the  hunting  ex- 
cursion proposed  by  Queen  Dido,  to  Apollo  as  he  sets  up  the 
dance  on  his  maternal  Delos : 

ipse  ante  alios  pulcherrimus  omnes 
infert  se  socium  Aeneas,  atque  agmina  iungit, 
qualis  ubi  hibernam  Lyciam  Xanthique  fluenta 
deserit,  ac  Delum  maternam  invisit  Apollo, 
instauratque  chores,  mixtiqiie  altaria  circum 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  91 

Cretesque  Dryopesque  f  remunt  pictique  Agathyrsi : 
ipse  iugis  Cynthi  graditur,  mollique  fluentem 
fronde  premit  crinem  fingens,  atque  implicat  auro ; 
tela  sonant  umeris:  hand  illo  segnior  ibat 
Aeneas;  tantum  egregio  decus  enitet  ore. 

(Aen.  4,  143  ff.) 

Undoubtedly  Apollonius  was  the  source;  for,  while  there  is 
divergence  in  treatment,  in  the  development  of  the  simile,  for 
instance,  still  there  are  striking  resemblances  in  phraseology. 
And  even  when  an  epithet  is  changed  another  is  substituted  to 
preserve  the  balance  in  phraseology.  Cf.  ArJXo 
Deluni  maternam — Av/cfyv  evpelav :  hibernam  Lyciam — Ed 
porjaiv :  Xanthi  fluenta. 

The  variation  in  the  epithets  gives  one  the  key  to  Vergil's 
different  treatment  of  the  comparison.  Apollonius,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  carried  away  by  his  love  of  geographical  description: 
Vergil  too  is  not  insensible  of  the  effect  to  be  gained  by  a  good 
use  of  geography.  But  he  keeps  closer  to  his  comparison. 
Apollonius  had  the  picture  of  Apollo  and  Jason — Vergil  keeps 
the  setting  and  faithfully  draws  the  comparison  of  Aeneas 
among  his  men  with  Apollo  among  his  devotees.  These  devo- 
tees, says  Vergil — and  here  is  an  opportunity  for  more  geo- 
graphy— assemble  in  Delos  from  Crete,  Thessaly  and  Sarmatia, 
and  as  they  sing  about  his  altars  Apollo  walks  with  stately 
tread  (graditur)  among  them.  In  like  manner  moves  Aeneas 
among  his  men.  The  extension  of  the  cult  of  Apollo  is  what 
Vergil  has  dwelt  on,  and  hence  the  change  in  the  epithets  ap- 
plied to  Lycia  and  Delos :  Lycia  was  the  winter  home  of  Apollo 
and  Delos  his  summer  home. 

With  this  passage  is  to  be  compared  A  en.  1,  498,  a  descrip- 
tion of  Queen  Dido  among  her  women.  Here  she  is  compared 
to  Diana  in  the  midst  of  the  dance  on  the  banks  of  the  Eurotas. 
The  motif  is  the  same  as  in  the  passages  cited  above  and  has, 
as  its  source,  Od.  6,  102 — a  description  of  Nausicaa  among 
her  maidens: 


92  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

oirj  8*  "A/?Te/u?  el<74  /car'  ovpea  lo^eaipa 
7j  Kara  Trjvyerov  Trepi/Atf/ceTov  f)  ^pvf 
repTTo^evt]  KairpoKTi  /cal  wiceirjS  e\d<f>oi(n,v  • 
TV]  Be  #'  a/aa  vvpfyai  icovpai  Ato?  cuyid%Qio 
aypovdfJLOL  7rai%ov<ri  •  y'eyrjOe  Be  re  <f>peva  AT?TO> 
Trao-dcov  B'  vjrep  ij  ye  /cdprj  e%et  ^5e  yLteVa)7ra, 
peld  r'  apiryv(i)Trj  TreXerat,  Ka\al  Be  re  Tracrai. 
0)5  j]  7'  a/JupiTrdXoicn  fjiereTrpeTre  irapdevos  a 

The  Homeric  simile  follows  the  comparison  closely.  Nan- 
sicaa  among  her  maidens  is  compared  with  Artemis  the  huntress 
as  she  pursues  the  wild  boar  or  swift  stag,  followed  by  the 
mountain  nymphs.  Artemis  herself  towers  head  and  shoulders 
above  the  nymphs  —  Zeus'  daughters,  —  distinguished  for  beauty 
amid  a  crowd  of  beauties.  Such  was  ISFausicaa  too  among  her 
maidens. 

So  too  Vergil,  in  his  imitation  of  this  passage,  the  comparison 
of  Dido  among  her  women  with  Diana  among  the  Oreads,  draws 
the  comparison  closely,  and  varies  the  treatment  only  by  the 
omission  of  the  beautiful  line, 


peld  T'  apiryvcorrj  TreXerat,  /ca\al  Be  re  ira 
and  by  indicating  her  connection  with  the  band  in— 

ilia  pharetram  fert  humero. 
CLAen.  1.498: 

regina  ad  templum,  forma  pulcherrima  Dido, 
incessit  magna  iuvenum  stipante  caterva. 
Qualis  in  Eurotae  ripis  aut  per  iuga  Cynthi 
exercet  Diana  chores,  quam  mille  secutae 
hinc  atque  hinc  glomerantur  Oreades  ;  ilia  pharetram 
fert  humero  gradiensque  deas  supereminet  omnes  : 
Latonae  taciturn  pertemptant  gaudia  pectus: 
talis  erat  Dido,  talem  se  laeta  ferebat 
per  medios. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statius  93 

But  the  purpose  of  the  simile  is  different  in  the  two  poets. 
This  is  indicated  by  the  application  of  it  in  the  last  lines  of 
each  passage.  In  Homer  the  beauty  of  Nausicaa  is  thrown 
into  strong  relief: 


in  Vergil  the  joyousness  of  Dido  is  emphasised: 

talis  erat  Dido,  talem  se  laeta  ferebat 
per  medios, 

in  order  to  bring  out  by  contrast  the  tragedy  of  her  subsequent 
fate.  The  pathos  of  Dido's  situation  is  never  absent  from 
Vergil,  hence  the  intrusion  of  the  sentimental  touch,  which  is 
not  found  in  the  Homeric  simile. 

Further  comparison  of  heroic  women  —  Helen  and  Penelope 
—to  Artemis  are  to  be  seen  in  Od.  4,  122;  17,  37;  19,  54:  but 
enough  of  this  traditional  material  has  been  dealt  with  to 
enable  one  to  set  up  a  comparison  with  the  Statius  passage. 

In  all  of  the  passages  cited  the  god  or  goddess  with  whom  the 
hero  or  heroine  is  compared  is  described  at  length,  whatever 
the  motive  for  the  description  may  be  —  whether  it  be  to  display 
erudition  or  represent  the  pathos  of  a  situation  or  extol  the 
beauty  of  a  princess.  The  motif  is  traditional,  but  the  treat- 
ment is  individual  and  full  of  freshness  and  life.  But  with 
Statius  it  has  become  conventional.  He  does  not  stop  to  des- 
cribe Apollo  —  from  the  preceding  description  of  Achilles  the 
typical  Apollo  is  easily  recognisable  ;  and  so  with  the  lines  : 

qualis  Lycia  venator  Apollo 
cum  redit  et  saevis  permutat  plectra  pharetris, 

the  statues  of  Apollo  the  hunter,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  Apollo  the  musician  stand  before  the  reader.  The  poet's 
shifting  of  the  description  from  the  god  to  Achilles  has  given 
this  effect  —  an  effect  which  seems  to  be  inevitable  with  Statius 
in  much  of  his  description.  That  is,  his  own  description  of 


94  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

the  hero  recalls  to  his  mind  the  statues  of  Apollo,  and  for  the 
traditional  description  of  the  god  in  his  native  haunts  he  sub- 
stitutes the  statues.  Kepresentations  of  the  god  as  hunter  and 
musician  were  so  familiar  that  it  needed  only  a  passing  mention 
of  the  type:  hence  Statius  is  content  to  give  a  stroke  or  two 
where  his  predecessors  amplified  in  detail. 

With  Statius  the  comparison  had  become  conventional:  after 
him  it  became  still  more  so.  As  an  illustration  of  the  esteem 
in  which  Statius  was  held  by  later  poets  and  the  extent  to 
which  he  was  nlade  a  model,  it  may  be  noted  that  after  him 
poets  made  every  hero  such  as  his  Achilles  and  Apollo — a  man 
of  the  sword  as  well  as  a  master  in  the  finer  arts.  An  instance 
in  point  is  Ausonius,  Epigramm.  I.  4.  (Schenk.),  26  (Peiper) 
de  Gratiano,  when  the  Emperor  is  depicted  as  equally  powerful 
in  the  sterner  craft  of  Mars  and  the  gentler  art  of  the  Muses : 

bellandi  f  andique  potens  Augustus  honorem 
bis  meret  ut  geminet  titulos,  qui  proelia  Musis 
temperat  et  Geticum  moderatur  Apolline  Martem. 
arma  inter  Chunosque  truces  furtoque  nocentes 
Sauromatas  quantum  cessat  de  tempore  belli, 
indulget  Clariis  tantum  inter  castra  Camenis. 
vix  posuit  volucres  stridentia  tela  sagittas: 
Musarum  ad  calamos  fertur  manus,  otia  nescit 
et  commutata  meditatur  arimdiiie  carmen. 

So  too  the  description  of  the  god  in  Calpurnius  7,  83  if. : 

nisi  me  decepit  visus,  in  uno 
et  Martis  vultus  et  Apollinis  esse  notavi. 

And  Sidonius  Apollin.  Epist.  17.  of  book  4,  paying  a  tribute 
to  Arbogastes,  '  Par  ducibus  antiquis  lingua  manuque,  sed 
quorum  dextra  solebat  non  minus  stilum  tractare  quam  gla- 
diurn.' 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statius  95 

Ach.  1.  339. 

The  tendency  that  we  noted  in  the  Palaemon  passage  (Tlieb. 
1,  121  ff.),  the  tendency  that  Statius  manifests  towards  taking 
a  simple  phenomenon  and  illustrating  it  by  the  conventional 
type  is  the  inevitable  result  of  this  element  of  the  *  plastic '  in 
his  description.  Ach.  1,  339  is  a  good  illustration.  Here 
Thetis,  by  means  of  her  dolphin  team,  has  conveyed  Achilles 
to  the  island  of  Scyros,  to  the  court  of  Lycomedes,  and  on  the 
pretence  that  the  youth  is  a  maiden,  got  from  the  king  his 
permission  to  allow  Achilles  to  live  among  his  daughters  that 
no  rumor  of  the  movement  of  the  Greeks  against  Troy  may 
reach  his  ears,  and  his  innate  warlike  spirit  may  not  be  aroused. 
Achilles  at  first  strongly  objects,  declaring  that  he  is  in  no  way 
fitted  to  play  the  role  of  a  woman,  but  at  the  sight  of  the  lovely 
Deidamia  he  is  won  over.  His  mother  at  once  proceeds  to 
show  him  how  he  can  successfully  imitate  feminine  ways: 

blanda  Thetis :  (  sic  ergo  gradum,  sic  ora  maimsqne 
nate,  feres  comitesque  modis  imitabere  fictis, 
ne  te  suspectum  molli  non  misceat  aulae 
rector  et  incepti  pereant  mendacia  furti.7 
dicit  et  admoto  non  distat  comere  tactu. 
sic  ubi  virgineis  Hecate  lassata  Therapnis 
ad  patrem  fratremque  redit,  comes  haeret  eunti 
mater  et  ipsa  umeros  exsertaque  bracchia  velat ; 
ipsa  arcum  pharetrasque  locat  vestemqne  latentem 
deducit  sparsosque  tumet  componere  crines. 

Statius  presents  Thetis  exhorting  Achilles  to  be  careful  to 
assume  the  gait,  look  and  gesture  of  a  young  maiden,  and  all  the 
while  arranging  his  dress  and  stroking  his  hair.  The  picture 
calls  up  that  of  Hecate  (Diana)  returning  from  the  hunt  at- 
tended by  her  mother — and  the  poet  passes  from  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  simple  unconventional  display  of  motherly  affection 
to  that  of  the  conventional  mother  and  daughter  Latona  and 
Diana.  Diana  returns  from  the  hunt  to  Mt.  Olympus — to  the 
home  of  her  father  and  brother — and  as  she  returns  weary 


96  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

with  the  chase  she  is  met  and  waited  on  by  her  mother.  Latona 
arranges  her  daughter's  robe  about  her  shoulders,  covers  the 
arms  that  had  been  exposed  in  the  hunt,  arranges  her  dress 
to  make  her  presentable  to  the  gods  on  Olympus  and  proudly 
combs  out  her  dishevelled  locks.  The  picture  of  the  two  god- 
desses is  beautiful,  but  it  is  conventional.  Not  that  Statius  is 
the  first  poet  to  follow  this  manner  of  description:  but  with 
him  it  came  to  be  a  fixed  tendency. 

And  for  his  picture  of  Latona  and  Hecate  he  seems  to  have 
turned  aside  from  the  early  tradition.  At  different  times  this 
duty  of  attending  Diana  as  she  returned  from  the  hunt  was 
assigned  to  different  gods  —  now  to  Apollo  and  again  to  Heracles. 
Diana  supported  the  gods  on  Olympus  with  the  spoils  of  the 
hunt  ;  hence  the  fact  that  she  was  attended  so  dutifully,  on  her 
arrival  home.  Callimachus  (Hymn  to  Artemis,,  141  ff.)  as- 
signs to  Hermes  the  task  of  taking  care  of  her  weapons,  and 
to  Apollo  the  unloading  of  the  spoils  : 

OT?  e?  Ato?  olitov 


ev0a  roi  avridcovres  eVl  7rpoiJLo\ycn  Se^ 

O7r\a  fiev  'E/o^etT;?  a/caKria-ios,  avrap  'A7ro'XXa>z/ 

Orjpi'ov  6m 


But  Statius  in  order  to  secure  the  picture  of  the  mother  and 
daughter  to  balance  the  description  of  Thetis  and  her  supposed 
daughter  assigns  this  care  to  Latona. 


Ach.  1,  482. 

The  same  phenomenon  is  observed  in  the  series  of  conven- 
tional pictures  drawn  by  the  poet  to  illustrate  how  the  Greeks, 
assembled  at  Aulis,  refused  the  claims  of  all  the  other  heroes  to 
the  captaincy  of  the  host  and  demanded  Achilles — how  the  as- 
piring leaders  themselves  drew  back  before  him  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  superior  power.  The  Greek  host  is  delayed  at 
Aulis  by  a  calm.  The  pause  in  the  expedition  gives  oppor- 
tunity for  the  selection  of  a  captain,  and  there  is  no  lack  of 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  97 

heroes  to  assert  their  claims  to  the  distinction.  First  are  the 
Atridae,  the  rightful  leaders;  for  to  them  the  quarrel  belongs. 
Diomedes  and  Sthenelus  also  press  their  claims,  seeking  to 
emulate  their  father's  glory.  The  youthful  Antilochus,  and 
the  crafty  Ulysses  contend  for  the  highest  honour.  Yet  all 
fear  to  entrust  the  fortunes  of  the  expedition  to  any  of  these, 
and  long  for  Achilles  as  the  only  one  fit  to  match  himself  against 
Hector  and  destined  to  be  the  destruction  of  Troy.  To  him 
all  the  heroes  yield  the  palm. 

From  this  the  poet  passes  to  the  description  of  the  assembling 
of  the  gods  on  the  plains  of  Phlegra  to  do  battle  with  the 
Titans:  and  their  deliberation  over  the  choice  of  a  leader. 
First  Mars  rises  and  leaning  on  his  Thracian  spear  submits 
himself  for  approval:  next  Tritonia,  with  her  dreaded  aegis: 
then  Apollo,  bending  his  massive  bow.  But  all  in  fear  refuse 
these  and  look  to  Jove  the  wielder  of  the  lightning  shaft: 

haec  Graiae  castris  iterant  traduntque  cohortes. 
cedit  turba  ducum  vincique  haud  maesta  fatetur. 
sic  cum  pallentes  Phlegraea  in  castra  coirent 
caelicolae  iamque  Odrysiam  Gradivus  in  hastam 
surgeret  et  Libycos  Tritonia  tolleret  anguis, 
ingentemque  manu  curvaret  Delius  arcum, 
stabat  anhela  metu  solum  Natura  Tonantem 
respiciens :  quando  ille  hiemes  tonitrusque  vocaret 
nubibus,  igniferamque  ad  fulmina  posceret  Aetnen. 

The  introduction  of  the  mythological  allusion  and  the  charac- 
terisation of  each  god  as  he  rises  to  submit  his  claims  to  leader- 
ship in  the  fight  with  the  Titans  gives  the  effect  of  a  picture, 
or  rather  a  series  of  pictures,  such  for  instance  as  the  assembling 
of  the  gods  on  Mt.  Olympus,  when  each  rises  in  turn  to  declare 
his  mind  on  some  important  issue.  Again  no  definite  picture 
may  have  been  in  the  mind  of  the  poet,  but  such  was  the  in- 
fluence of  plastic  art  on  him  that  his  descriptions  naturally 
took  that  turn. 


98.  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Adi.  1,  609. 

Again  in  the  description  of  Achilles,  as  he  celebrated  along 
with  the  daughters  of  Lycomedes  the  rites  of  Dionysus,  a 
comparison  is  instituted  between  Achilles  and  the  wine-god 
himself : 

ut  vero  e  tereti  demisit  nebrida  collo 
errantisque  sinus  hedera  collegit  et  alte 
cinxit  purpureis  flaventia  tempora  vittis 
vibravitque  gravi  redimitum  missile  dextra, 
attonito  stat  turba  metu  sacrisque  relictis 
ilium  ambire  libet  pronosque  attollere  vultus, 
talis,  ubi  ad  Thebas  vultumque  animumque  remisit 
Euhius  et  patrio  satiavit  pectora  luxu, 
serta  comis  mitramque  levat  thyrsumque  virenteni 
armat  et  hostilis  invisit  fortior  Indos. 

The  allusion  is  to  the  celebration  of  the  Trieterica — rites 
that  were  instituted  in  Boeotia  and  other  parts  of  Greece  as 
well  as  Thrace  in  commemoration  of  the  expedition  of  Dionysus 
from  Bosotia  to  India  and  his  triumphal  return  thence  after 
a  period  of  three  years.  To  these  rites  women  from  all  parts 
of  Greece  assembled  and  worshipped  the  god  with  sacrifices  and 
hymns  in  orgiastic  frenzy.  The  daughters  of  Lycomedes  here 
celebrate  the  rite  and  Achilles  accompanies  them  to  the  revel. 

Achilles  becomes  the  center  of  attraction.  Over  his  shoulders 
is  thrown  a  fawn  skin,  the  flowing  ends  of  which  are  caught 
up  with  ribbons  of  ivy.  On  his  head  he  wears  purple  fillets — 
and  in  his  strong  right  arm  he  brandishes  a  spear.  The  poet 
with  this  description  prepares  us  for  the  picture.  His  comrades 
in  the  orgies  gaze  upon  Achilles  in  fear,  believing  they  see  the 
god  before  them.  To  complete  his  description  the  poet  gives 
the  picture  of  the  real  Dionysus  in  his  two  phases — first,  as 
the  god  of  the  revel  adorned  with  garlands  and  the  mitra ; 
second,  the  god  when  he  has  put  these  off  and  donned  warlike 
gear  for  an  attack  on  the  people  of  India. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  99 

Here  again  the  description  has  become  conventionalised.  The 
reader  leaves  it,  not  with  Achilles  in  mind  but  with  represen- 
tations of  the  god  Dionysus,  of  which  there  were  countless 
numbers. 


Ach.  1,  755. 

The  description  of  the  banquet  at  the  palace  of  Lycomedes 
is  worthy  of  notice.  Ulysses  and  Diomedes,  out  on  their  mis- 
sion of  finding  the  lost  Achilles  and  trying  to  induce  him  to 
join  the  Greek  host  that  was  on  its  way  to  Ilium,  were  the 
privileged  guests  at  the  festival.  The  poet  describes  how  the 
palace  was  all  astir  with  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  the  dis- 
tinguished Pelasgian  guests,  how  Ulysses  in  his  turn  could 
scarce  suppress  his  joy  at  the  prospect  of  detecting  Achilles 
and  being  able  to  persuade  him  to  leave  his  life  of  simple  enjoy- 
ment, by  the  sight  of  warlike  weapons.  Then  he  turns  to  the 
picture  of  the  banquet  that  is  spread — the  male  guests  reclining 
and  waiting  for  the  appearance  of  Lycomedes'  daughters.  He 
describes  the  situation  as  follows: 

iamque  atria  fervent 

regali  strepitu  et  picto  discumbitur  ostro, 
cum  pater  ire  iubet  natas  comitesque  pudicas 
natarum.  subeunt,  quales  Mseotide  ripa, 
cum  Scythicas  rapuere  domos  et  capta  Getarum 
moenia,  sepositis  epulantur  Amazones  armis. 

At  the  word  from  Lycomedes  the  daughters  appear  attended 
by  their  maidens.  One  expects  from  the  poet  a  description  of 
the  beautiful  women  in  the  conventional  fashion:  instead  he  is 
given  a  picture  of  the  Amazons  in  their  Thracian  home,  reclined 
at  the  feast  with  arms  laid  aside  after  their  ravages  of  the 
surrounding  country.  This  is  so  different  from  what  one  ex- 
pects in  such  a  situation  that  he  is  forced  to  conclude  that  Sta- 
tius  had  before  his  mind  some  work  of  art  and  that  his  descrip- 
tion of  the  daughters  of  Lycomedes  turned  to  that.  Especially 


100  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

does  this  seem  the  case,  when  one  reflects  that  a  description  of 
the  women  would  have  been  better  here.  \7ergil  and'Apollo- 
nius  would  have  made  this  the  occasion  for  elaborate  descrip- 
tion ;  would  have  given  the  reader  a  powerful  impression  of  the 
beauty  of  the  women:  which  would  have  produced  the  effect 
of  allowing  Ulysses  to  scan  them  thoroughly  in  order  to  detect 
Achilles.  All  that  the  poet  secures  here — and  all  he  leaves 
with  the  reader  is  a  picture  of  warlike  women  reclined  at  a 
feast:  while  in  reality,  from  the  details  previously  given  re- 
garding them  (vid.  11.  287-292),  the  only  resemblance  these 
women  bore  to  the  Amazons  was  that  they  were  women,  and 
about  to  sit  down  to  a  banquet,  as  the  Amazons  had  been  known 
to  do  on  some  memorable  occasion.  What,  for  instance,  had 
the  daughters  of  Lycomedes  to  do  with  arms  ?  The  note  in 
the  Lemaire  edition  of  Statius  sees  that  the  comparison  holds 
in  only  a  small  detail.  It  says — [subeunt  quales]  eo,  inquit, 
ordine  se  habebant  puellae  regiae  in  accubatione,  quo  Amazones 
quum  epulantur.  Haec  comparatio  in  hoc  est  ut  puellaruin 
discumbentium  ostendat  numerum  et  ordinem  decorum.  The 
important  point  for  us  here  is  that  Statius  has  done  this  by 
means  of  a  picture  rather  than  by  description. 

With  this  may  be  compared  the  treatment  of  the  same  motif 
in  Claudianus  (De  Rapt.  Pros.  2,  62).  The  latter,  as  Earth 
observed,  is  an  imitation  of  the  Statius  passage: 

qualis  Amazonidum  peltis  exsultat  aduncis  1 
pulchra  cohors :  quotiens  Arcton  populata  virago 
Hippolyte,  niveas  ducit  post  proelia  turmas, 
sen  flavos  stravere  Getas,  seu  forte  regentem 
Thermodontiaca  Tanaim  fregere  securi. 


1This  is  Koch's  reading:  Earth  reads  '  ademptis':   Scaliger  changed  the 
text  completely  and  read: 

positis  agit  agmina  peltis 
cum  gelidam  sociis  Arcton  populata  virago. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papinius  Statins  101 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Greek  and  Latin  Authors : 

Homer,  Iliad.     Walter  Leaf.     London,  1900. 
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Apollonius  Rhodius,  Argonautica.     Oxford  Text. 
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de  Mirmont.     Paris,  1892. 


Vergilii  Opera,  Elzv.  ed.,  Vols.  I-III.     Amst.,  1680. 
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Thebaid  and  Achilleid.     Oxford  Text. 

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Silvae.     Teub.  Text.     Klotz,  1911. 

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III.),  Cygneae,  1664. 

P.  Papinii  Statii  opera  omnia,  Diibner.     Leipzig,  1837. 
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IV.     Paris,  1825-1830. 
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Special  Works: 

Eissfeldt,  E.     Uber  Quellen  und  Vorbilder  des  P.  Papin. 

Statius.     Helmstedt,  1900. 
Id.     Philologus  63  (1904),  p.  421  ff. 


102  The  Influence  of  Art  on  Description 

Gaymann,   V.      Kunstarchdologische    Studien.      Wiirzburg, 

1898. 

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criticae,  grammaticae,  rJietoricae.     Konigsberg,  1890. 
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'  Comment.   Philol.   fur  O.  Ribbeck.'     Leipzig,   1888, 

p.  514  ff. 
Wilson,  H.  L.      The  metaphor  in  the  Epic  poems  of  P.  Pap. 

Statins.     Baltimore,  1898. 


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S.  H.  Butcher. 
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Christ,   W.  von.      Griechische  Literaturgeschichte  (1911),   I, 

p.  219  ff. 

Couat,  Auguste.     La  poesie  alexandrine  sous  les   trois  pre- 
miers PtoUmees.     Paris,  1882. 
Dryden,  John.     A  Parallel  between  poetry   and  painting : 

Introduction  to  a  translation  of  Du  Fresnoy's  De  arte 

graphica. 
Notes  on  the  De  arte  graphiea.     Scott  and  Saintsbury, 

1892,  vol.  17. 
Helbig,  W.     Wandgemdlde  der  von  Vesuv  verschutteten  Stddte 

Campaniens.     Leipzig,  1868. 
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Modern  Language  Association  of  America,7  vol.  24, 

No.  1  (March,  1909),  pp.  40-123. 
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translation  of  Theocritus,  Bion  and  Moschus/  London 

and  New  York,  1892  (Golden  Treasury  Series). 
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Paris,  1888. 


in  the  Poetry  of  P.  Papiniiw  Statins  103 

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VITA 

Thomas  Shearer  Duncan  was  born  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  April 
28,  1882.  His  Public  School  education  was  received  at  Westport, 
Ontario,  Canada,  and  his  High  School  training  at  Athens,  Ontario, 
Canada.  In  1900  he  entered  Queen's  University,  Kingston,  and 
pursued  the  special  course  in  Classics,  graduating  with  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts  in  1905.  From  1906  to  1910  he  acted  as 
Tutor  and  Fellow  in  Latin,  at  the  same  time  completing  the 
course  in  Honour  English.  In  1910  he  entered  the  Johns  Hop- 
kins University  to  do  graduate  work  in  Classics,  and  chose  as  his 
subjects  Latin,  Greek  and  Classical  Archaeology.  For  the  year 
1911-12  he  was  Fellow  in  Latin;  and  for  1912-13  Edmund 
Law  Rogers  Fellow  in  Classics. 

Acknowledgments  are  due  to  Professor  Kirby  Flower  Smith, 
at  whose  suggestion  this  Thesis  was  undertaken,  and  by  whom 
much  of  the  material  of  the  first  example  was  supplied ;  and  to 
Professors  Basil  L.  Gildersleeve,  H.  L.  Wilson,  D.  M.  Robinson, 
W.  P.  Mustard  and  C.  W.  E.  Miller  for  their  help  and  courtesy 
during  the  writer's  course  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University. 


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